Caps Clash with Canes in Carolina

November 28 vs. Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena
Time: 1:00 p.m.
TV:NBCSW
Radio:Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 FAN
Washington Capitals (13-3-5)
Carolina Hurricanes (15-3-1)

It's been a while, but the Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes will renew acquaintances once again on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh when Washington opens up a two-game road journey against a pair of its former Southeast Division rivals. Sunday's game between the Caps and the Canes is the first in nearly 23 months, since a Jan. 13, 2020 meeting in the District.
Following a successful West Coast trip (2-1-1) in the middle of the month, the Caps came home and swept a two-game homestand sandwiched around the Thanksgiving holiday, and they'll come into Carolina sporting an 8-1-1 record in their last 10 games. Most recently, the Caps rode Alex Ovechkin's hat trick to a 4-3 victory over Florida on Black Friday, a game in which Tom Wilson (one goal, two assists) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (three assists) also picked up three points.
This two-game trip to the south also includes a rematch against the Panthers in Florida on Tuesday night, the final game of a busy month of November in which Washington plays 15 times in 30 nights.
Sunday's game in Raleigh is a battle for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, with the Caps and Canes going into the contest all even with 31 points. The Capitals have played two more games than the Hurricanes to this point of the season. Both the Caps and the Canes have suffered just three regulation losses on the season, and both have lost just one game by a margin of more than one goal.
"It's really exciting," says Washington winger Garnet Hathaway of facing the Canes. "Obviously they're a great team, and they've been playing great hockey. It's a great challenge for us. I think we've done a good job of not looking too far ahead to this game. But counting [Friday] night [vs. Florida], these next two games are part of three games against the top two teams in the League. And we want to be the top team in the League. It's exciting, and it's a challenge like I said, but we're going to be fully prepared for it."
Prior to departing for Raleigh on Saturday afternoon, the Caps conducted a practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and Conor Sheary (upper body) were both on the ice, but in non-contact sweaters. More encouraging was Lars Eller's presence and full participation in Saturday's practice after missing the last six games because of COVID-19 protocol.
Eller had been in quarantine in an Anaheim hotel since Nov. 15.

"The quarantine was far worse than the disease itself," says Eller. "It's not healthy to sit inside for a long time, 10 days. I think that's very unhealthy for anyone, so that wasn't fun. But now I'm out and feeling good, and happy to be back on the ice. It feels right."
Washington has played each of the last three games without five regular forwards, so if Eller is able to return to the lineup that number will shrink by one. At Saturday's practice, Eller skated on a line with Daniel Sprong and Connor McMichael alternating on the left side and Tom Wilson on the right.
In Friday's win over Florida, the Panthers twice went 200 feet to score, carving through the center of the ice a bit too easily. The Sprong-McMichael-Wilson trio was on ice for both of those goals against, and both Sprong and McMichael were limited to a single shift after the Panthers' Carter Verhaeghe scored the second of those goals at 5:36 of the third.
Facing deep and offensively gifted teams such as Florida and Carolina and playing on the road, Caps coach Peter Laviolette may prefer to lean more on defensively minded units like the Nic Dowd line or the newly cobbled trio of Beck Malenstyn, Mike Sgarbossa and Brett Leason. That trio has been together for two games now, but they've forechecked tenaciously, defended well and have dominated possession to the tune of nearly 75 percent of all shot attempts during their time on the ice at even strength.
"They were excellent," said Laviolette of the Sgarbossa line in the wake of Friday's win. "This was the second game in a row that they were excellent. They get the puck, they get it into the offensive zone, they stay there and they generate chances. And that's what it's about. They're detailed defensively, which is important. They've done a really good job."

When Washington was out west the week before last, the Canes were right behind them at virtually every stop. While the Caps' trip consisted of four games in a week on the road, the Canes squeezed in six games on the trip, starting in Vegas and finishing in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon. The Canes went 4-1-1 on the journey and they'll host the Caps in their first home game in more than two weeks, since a 3-2 win over St. Louis on Nov. 13.
Carolina is 6-1-0 on home ice this season. The Canes' lone blemish at PNC Arena came in a 2-1 loss to the Flyers here on Nov. 12 in the front end of a set of back-to-backs, and just prior to their departure for their Western swing.
The Hurricanes are the League's second-stingiest defensive club, allowing an average of just 2.05 goals per game with Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta sharing the netminding chores. Both veteran goalies are in their first season with Carolina. The Canes' penalty-killing outfit is also second best in the circuit with a kill rate of 87.8 percent to date.