The Last Meeting
Since it was just Tuesday night when these two Metropolitan Division opponents saw each other, let's break down the last meeting first.
The Capitals and Hurricanes traded goals in the first two periods to take a 1-1 score into the second intermission. T.J. Oshie opened the scoring in the game late in the first period when he scored on a one-timer off a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov.
On a delayed penalty sequence in the second period, Justin Williams laid off a backhand pass for Dougie Hamilton, who scored on a one-timer from the point through traffic in front of Braden Holtby.
"The puck was near the blue line, so I figured I'd take it out anyway. I picked my head up and I saw they all changed. I was able to almost find Slavin for a breakaway," Williams said. "We stayed with it, and it was a big goal at the time for us, but as you can see, it wasn't a turning point for us."
The Caps broke the game open in the third period with three unanswered goals. Alex Ovechkin's 49th goal of the season - a one-time blast from the top of the left circle in transition - was the difference. John Carlson scored off a slap pass from Dmitry Orlov to stretch the Caps' lead to 3-1, and Nicklas Backstrom found an empty net late.
Quite simply: The Hurricanes weren't at their best, and that's not good enough against the team that sits atop the Metro Division.
PROJECTED LINEUP
"They were good, and we were not. You put those two together, and we really had no chance in that game. It sort of felt like the whole way that we never got to our game. I give them credit. They played a tight-checking game and took advantage of their opportunities when we took a breath in the D-zone," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We don't have a chance to play against those teams if we play like that. That's just not going to get it done."
500 for Dougie
Hamilton is set to play in his 500th career NHL game on Thursday and would become the fifth member of the 2011 NHL Draft class to reach that milestone. Hamilton has totaled 254 career points (79g, 175a), more than twice as many points as any other defenseman from that class has amassed.
On Tuesday, Hamilton became the seventh defenseman in franchise history to tally 15 goals in a season. A career-high 14 of those have been scored at even strength. Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, Hamilton has scored more goals (32) than any other defenseman in the league.
The Opposition
With their win over the Canes on Tuesday, the Capitals stretched their lead in the division to three points with five games left to play. Washington is 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and has posted a 22-14-2 record on the road this season.
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS KEYS TO THE GAME
