Photo: @Costonika
The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes will close out their three-game regular-season series outdoors at Carter-Finley Stadium, home of the NCAA’s NC State Wolfpack, in the 2023 NHL Stadium Series on Saturday night. Carolina took the first two meetings by a score of 3-2, including the most recent one this past Tuesday at Capital One Arena. Action from Raleighwood can be seen on ABC or ESPN+ starting at 8 PM ET.
The stage is set. 🏟
See the rink in action TOMORROW at the 2023 @NavyFederal NHL #StadiumSeries at 8p ET on @ABCNetwork, @ESPNPlus, @Sportsnet, and @TVASports! pic.twitter.com/hEnbC8hkxy
— NHL (@NHL) February 17, 2023
SCHEDULE
Washington: play lone road game in stretch of seven, which they have lost their first three of in regulation after a 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday
Carolina: continue season-long five-game homestand after opening it with a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday
RECORDS
Washington: 28-23-6/.544 points percentage – fifth in Metropolitan Division, eighth in Eastern Conference (but 10th in points percentage); 14-12-3 on road (12th in NHL)
Carolina: 36-10-8/.741 points percentage – first in Metropolitan Division, second in Eastern Conference; 18-6-2 at home (fifth)
HOW EACH TEAM IS DOING
Washington: has lost 10 of last 16 in regulation since 15-3-3 stretch
Carolina: won last two and nine of last 10; 11-1-1 since four-game losing streak (0-3-1) at start of the new year
TEAM LEADERS
Washington
- LW Alex Ovechkin (32 goals, 54 points)
- C Evgeny Kuznetsov (36 assists)
- D Dmitry Orlov (22:43 TOI/game) — excluding D John Carlson
Notes: C Dylan Strome ended six-game scoring drought with a goal vs. Florida; LW Conor Sheary has just two assists, three points in last 17; C Lars Eller has just one assist in his last 17; LW Anthony Mantha has just one assist in his last 11, including none in his last six; D Erik Gustafsson has six helpers in his last five after a three-assist outing vs. Florida; D Nick Jensen tallied a -7 rating in last 18 games; LW Sonny Milano has just two assists, three points in last 15, including none over last six, and earned a -3 rating on Thursday; D Trevor Van Riemsdyk has two goals, four points in last five; RW T.J. Oshie has two assists, three points in his last two; C Nicklas Backstrom has a -11 rating in his last 10; LW Marcus Johansson has gone scoreless in three straight
Geared up for #StadiumSeries pic.twitter.com/ksskGPwEl9
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 17, 2023
Carolina
- C Sebastian Aho (24 goals, 48 points)
- D Brent Burns (29 assists, 23:16 TOI/game)
- C Martin Necas (48 points)
Notes: Necas, 24, has one assist in his last three since five-game point- (three goals, six points) and three-game assist-streaks (three) ended; Aho, 25, has 10 goals and 11 points in his last eight games; Burns, 37, has five goals, 11 points in his last 10 after a two-assist night vs. Montreal; RW Andrei Svechnikov has nine helpers in his last seven after a three-assist night on Thursday; C Jordan Staal has three goals, five points in his last six; LW Teuvo Teravainen saw four-game point-streak (two goals, four points) and stretch where he had eight assists, 11 points in previous 13 end vs. Montreal; C Seth Jarvis had just one goal in his previous seven, including no points in his previous three, before scoring a hat-trick vs. Montreal; D Brady Skjei has two assists, -4 rating in last 10; C Jesperi Kotkaniemi has two goals, six points in last seven; D Calvin de Haan has three assists over a three-game assist-streak
KEY TEAM STATS
Goals-per-game: WSH – 3.04 (20th) CAR – 3.35 (10th)
Goals-against per game: WSH – 2.88 (13th) CAR – 2.67 (7th)
Power Play: WSH – 20.5% (21st) CAR – 19.9% (22nd)
Penalty Kill: WSH – 81.5% (T-7th) CAR – 81.5% (T-7th)
Shots-per-game: WSH – 31.6 (17th) CAR – 34.9 (3rd)
Shots-against per game: WSH – 30.3 (11th) CAR – 26.4 (1st)
Faceoff-winning %: WSH – 49.8% (T-18th) CAR – 53% (4th)
5v5 Corsi-for %: WSH – 50.93% (15th) CAR – 59.78% (1st)
5v5 x Goals-For %: WSH – 51.48% (14th) CAR – 59.61% (1st)
5v5 SCF %: WSH – 50.96% (16th) CAR – 59.67% (1st)
5v5 Shooting %: WSH – 8.06% (21st) CAR – 8.02% (22nd)
5v5 Save %: WSH – .9169 (17th) CAR – .9173 (15th)
5v5 PDO: WSH – .997 (T-20th) CAR – .998 (19th)
new buckeys pic.twitter.com/JxxYCGpsnj
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 17, 2023
EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS
Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 16-16-4, .914 save percentage (T-13th in NHL), 2.63 goals-against average (15th), five shutouts (T-1st) in 37 games this season; 1-3-1, .897 save percentage, 3.38 goals-against average in six career games against Carolina, including .923 save percentage and 2.44 goals-against average in two games this season
🗣 DARCY KUEMPER WITH HIS 30th CAREER @pepsi SHUTOUT ‼️
With tonight’s 27-save performance, Kuemper now leads the league in shutouts on the season with five under his belt. pic.twitter.com/VERa6ZnXAL
— NHL (@NHL) January 20, 2023
Carolina: Frederik Andersen, 33 — 12-4-0, .899 save percentage, 2.61 goals-against average (T-14th) in 17 games; 8-4-2, .911 save percentage, 2.73 goals-against average, two shutouts in 14 career regular-season games vs. Washington, including .929 save percentage and 1.92 goals-against average this season
INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Washington
- Carlson (upper-body, will miss 22nd straight game, out indefinitely)
- Ovechkin (death of father, third, day-to-day)
- RW Connor Brown (ACL, 54th, indefinite)
- LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 58th, indefinite)
- C Nic Dowd (lower-body, 12th, indefinite)
Carolina
- LW Max Pacioretty (Achilles, 10th, indefinite)
- RW Ondrej Kase (concussion, 54th, indefinite)
- D Jake Gardiner (hip/back, 55th, season)
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Washington
Mantha — Kuznetsov — Sheary
Milano — Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Joe Snively — Strome — Oshie
Nicolas Aube-Kubel — Johansson — Garnet Hathaway
Gustafsson — Van Riemsdyk
Orlov — Jensen
Dylan McIlrath — Martin Fehervary
Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: D Alexander Alexeyev, C Aliaksei Protas, D Matt Irwin, C Lars Eller
* If Wilson plays, expect a roster move before puck drop with too many players on the roster
Carolina
Teravainen — Aho — Jarvis
Svechnikov — Kotkaniemi — Necas
Jordan Martinook — Staal — Jesper Fast
Stefan Noesen — Paul Stastny — Derek Stepan
Jaccob Slavin — Burns
Skjei — Brett Pesce
De Haan — Jalen Chatfield
Andersen
Antti Raanta
Scratched: D Dylan Coghlan
By Harrison Brown
Tonight Clay stopped 23 of 27 in the 4-2 loss. Bear had 1 goals, 0 assists, 3 sog. Maass had 0, 0, and 3, Has was 0, 0, and 1. Earlier today Rays had activated one D-man from reserve and assigned one D-man to reserve. No transactions with Hershey.
Last Spring, Carter Turnbull, Jonny Evans, and Kevin O’Neil went from UConn to signing ECHL contracts with South Carolina. They have been very productive, not only leading rookie lists but ECHL scoring lists.
Turnbull was leading the Stingrays and tied for the ECHL league lead with 24 goals. He was the Stingrays’ top scorer with 42 points in 41 games. A week ago, Carter suddenly left the Rays for Europe (Elite Prospects say a Slovakian team).
When Kevin O’Neil was loaned to the AHL Colorado Eagles team this week he had 16 goals and 18 assists in 36 games. (He also had 1 goal in 2 games in an earlier loan to the Bears.) He has played in one Eagles game but no points. As I had speculated, the loan is really a PTO. The Eagles said: “WINDSOR, CO. – The Colorado Eagles, proud AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, have announced that the team has signed forward Kevin O’Neil to a professional tryout agreement. “
Jonny is still with the Rays and has 9 goals and 21 assists in 40 games.
So in a two week period, Rays lost two players who had counted for 40 goals and 36 assists. This in a division where the top four teams are separated by four points. Rays are now third. It’s not just injuries that suck.