Caps at Canes Preview

Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are in town to test the Hurricanes in a Southeast Showdown at the RBC tonight.  Ovechkin just scored his 50th goal of the season and his antics after the goal created a bit of a stir, but when is the Russian ever out of the spotlight?

Will there be any other premeditated celebrations after a goal tonight?  Stay tuned.

While Ovechkin gets all the press, he has ample help providing offense for the division leaders.  Alexander Semin and Mike Green always seem to do well against the Hurricanes as well.  Semin has especially made a living out of wearing out Carolina netminders and has scored 19 goals and has 36 points in 23 career games against the Canes.

The goalies tonight should be Cam Ward and Jose Theodore, the same combatants as in last week Saturday's battle in DC.   Washington prevailed in that contest as they won the post game skills competition, but the 5-4 outcome via shootout left both teams feeling like they could have done better.  

These two teams do not like each other and while the Hurricanes need these two points to solidify their playoff positioning, the Caps are sure to show up and play hard even if the two points are not as important to them.  

Interestingly enough, guess which teams would meet in the playoffs if the season had ended last night?  If you think that there is animosity between the teams and the fan bases right now, just wait and see what the effect of an emotional playoff series would have.

The Canes will have the same lineup as last night.  They are an amazing 10-3 while playing the second half of back-to-back games this season.   They will also be looking to extend their seven game winning streak at home.

The game starts at 7 and it will be broadcast locally by FS Carolinas, also in HD.