Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals: Game Preview, Notes, Statistics, How to Watch

Carolina Hurricanes (24-20-7) at Washington Capitals (36-11-6)
February 7, 2017 - 7:00 p.m. ET
Verizon Center - Washington, DC
FOX Sports Carolinas - 99.9 The Fan - WRALSportsFan web and app
SB Nation rival blog: Japers’ Rink

Game Notes

• If you missed it yesterday, Hurricanes rookie forward Sebastian Aho was named the NHL’s first star of the week. Aho had four goals, one assist and a plus-3 rating in Carolina’s three wins last week. He ranks third among league rookies in goals (16), tied for second in shots (126) and tied for sixth in points (31). Since the beginning of December, Aho has registered a team-best 13 goals and 20 points.
• Elias Lindholm has five assists in three straight games including two multi-assist games. Carolina is 13-2-0 this season when Lindholm earns an assist.
• With two goals against the Islanders on Saturday, including the game-winner in overtime, Ron Hainsey registered his first multi-goal game in a Hurricanes sweater. His only other career multi-goal game came on Dec. 8, 2008, in a 5-4 Atlanta loss at Montreal.
• Brett Pesce leads the team with a plus-15 plus/minus rating in 51 games played this season. The last Hurricanes defenseman to finish the season with a plus-10 or better rating was Tim Gleason with a plus-12 in 2011-12.
• This will be the fourth and final regular-season game between the Hurricanes and the Capitals in 2016-17. The Hurricanes have earned points in two of the three games against Washington this season going 1-1-1 in those games. Their last visit to Verizon Center, just before the All-Star Break, was a 6-1 waxing on January 23.
• Get to three goals and the Canes should be good: they are 30-2-5 since 2006 when they score three or more goals against Washington. The flip side is also true, though; the Canes are just 1-27-3 against the Caps when they don’t get to three goals.
• The Hurricanes are tied for sixth in the league in faceoff win-percentage at 51.7%. Jordan Staal ranks fourth in the NHL with a 58.7 faceoff win-percentage among players who have taken over 500 faceoffs this season.
• No matter who plays in net for the Caps tonight, the Canes face a tall order. Braden Holtby is 10-4-0 with a 1.83 GAA and one shutout in 14 career games against the Hurricanes, and Philipp Grubauer is 3-2-1 with a 2.65 GAA in seven career games against Carolina.