For the Carolina Hurricanes, a matchup with the Washington Capitals still tends to feel like a rivalry game.
Even more so now that Washington’s coach is Peter Laviolette, who led the Hurricanes to their only Stanley Cup.
But times have been tough recently for the Capitals, so Laviolette will try to help them get cranked up for Thursday night’s clash in Washington, D.C.
The Capitals went 0-4 in February home games and have lost their last six outings on home ice — all in regulation — for the longest such drought since the franchise started playing in downtown Washington. The team hasn’t dropped seven consecutive home games since 1981.
“I think you’re probably angry more than anything else,” Laviolette said. “It’s our building, and we’re not getting it done.”
In half of those defeats during the current six-game stretch, they failed to score more than one goal.
“We probably need to start a little bit better on home ice,” Washington right winger Tom Wilson said.
Across Washington’s last 11 home games, the only victories were achieved in overtime.
Making life more difficult for the Capitals is that forward Carl Hagelin will be sidelined indefinitely after undergoing eye surgery on Tuesday. He suffered the injury when a stick struck him during a drill in practice earlier in the day.
“It’s a serious eye injury,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Wednesday. “I don’t know that we know the full extent of it yet.”
Hagelin, 33, has recorded 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 53 games this season.
For the Hurricanes, meanwhile, their five-game winning streak ended with Tuesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss in Detroit, but Carolina’s points string extended to seven games.
Yet the team is still trying to find its stride, as goaltending has been the backbone of its success.
“We weren’t that great, but we were still in position to win the game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the latest result. “We were a step off (at times).”
It has been two weeks since the Capitals have won a game. They’re on a three-game losing streak overall, most recently falling 5-3 on Monday night at home to Toronto.
Even with the offensive lulls, there have been a few notable numbers for the Capitals. John Carlson has notched two three-assist games since late December, including one earlier this week. Wilson has 17 goals, putting him on pace for a career high in that category.
Washington has produced at least one power-play goal in eight of its last 11 games.
Carolina forward Teuvo Teravainen holds a nine-game points streak, and linemate Sebastian Aho has at least one point in seven straight games.
“It is special. They’re both so highly talented and both so smart out there,” Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin said of the combination of Teravainen and Aho. “Just the chemistry that they have and they’ve built over their careers with each other.”
In many cases, Teravainen and Aho could be producing even more.
“They just didn’t get rewarded with what they were putting out there,” Brind’Amour said.
The Hurricanes haven’t been quite as tight defensively at times, though they allowed a total of one goal in a pair of home wins last weekend. Otherwise, they’ve given up three goals in regulation in five of their last eight games.
–Field Level Media
