It’s too soon to consider Thursday night’s game in to be as important as a playoff game, but when the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division collide, there’s bound to be a high dose of energy.
While Carolina at Washington could be a preview of a playoff round later this spring, there’s certainly going to be leftover memories from their meeting last week.
The Capitals (49-19-9, 107 points) have won just two of their last seven games. They’ve been off since Sunday’s 4-1 road loss to the New York Islanders.
Recent setbacks for Washington have been overshadowed by forward Alex Ovechkin’s rise to become the leading goal scorer in NHL history. Now that has been accomplished, so some of the attention could shift back to the final stretch of the regular season.
“I do think as great and as positive as this chase has been the significance of it,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “You celebrate this stuff, you embrace it.”
This will be Washington’s first game since Ovechkin set the record with his 895th career goal.
“This is the challenge for the group — you just went through something so euphoric,” Carbery said. “That’s my job to get our guys back on track. … We have to flip our mindset to get ourselves in a really good spot so we can make some noise in the playoffs.”
The Hurricanes (46-27-4, 96 points) have taken a recent dip that might be partially explainable but still not comfortable for them.
“We’ve taken a little breather here since we’ve got in (to the playoffs), you can feel it,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I don’t want to say it’s kind of expected, but we’ve got to snap out of it here quick.”
Since defeating Washington 5-1 on April 2, the Hurricanes have lost three games in a row. They’ve scored a total of four goals in those games, suffering a 3-0 loss Tuesday night at Buffalo.
“We’ve got to get more people at the net,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s the old adage.”
The most recent Capitals-Hurricanes game included late-game brawls that mostly were defined by Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield slamming Washington’s Connor McMichael to the ice. A few days later, Brind’Amour defended the move after Chatfield received ongoing criticism.
“When helmets are off, you have to be careful,” Carbery said Wednesday. “That’s what I’m going to say.”
The Hurricanes are sensing that it’s a critical time. Carolina captain Jordan Staal said it’s time to make certain all the pieces are in place.
“Guys know where we’re at and what we’ve got to accomplish here in the near future,” Staal said. “Obviously, if we roll into the playoffs with that kind of game (like Tuesday), it’s not going to look pretty. We have to build our game, build our identity and that’ll have us feeling good going into the playoffs.”
Carolina has won two of three meetings with the Capitals, but it lost 3-1 in the previous road assignment Dec. 20.
The visit to Washington marks the last of four straight road games for the Hurricanes.
Carolina has had roster adjustments. Staal returned after a four-game absence and forward Andrei Svechnikov was back after missing two games. However, Brind’Amour said prior to Tuesday’s game that forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi will miss about a week with an undisclosed injury.
The Hurricanes have played 50 games this season without allowing a power-play goal. That’s tied with the Dallas Stars for the most games in that category this season.
