Capitals at Hurricanes
THE STORY: The Washington Capitals snapped their losing streak with a wild comeback on Tuesday night. But all anyone wants to talk about is who wasn’t on the ice when the rally was completed. Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau kept captain Alex Ovechkin next to him in the final minutes of regulation against the Anaheim Ducks, instead letting Nicklas Backstrom run the show. Backstrom responded with the tying goal with 48 seconds left. Ovechkin was back on the ice for overtime, recording an assist when Backstrom’s winning goal glanced off the star Russian’s skate, but the damage was done. The Carolina Hurricanes have sandwiched two nice wins around an ugly loss and are looking to make a move in the Southeast Division. That plan got a little bit tougher on Tuesday when second-leading scorer Jussi Jokinen went down with a leg injury. The Capitals will be looking to take advantage of the depleted Hurricanes on Friday in Raleigh.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSW (Washington), FSCR (Carolina)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (8-2-0): Washington looked to be on the verge of a third straight loss on Tuesday, when they trailed the Anaheim Ducks, 3-0, in the second period. But the Capitals rallied back to tie at the end of regulation, with Ovechkin glued to the bench and apparently unhappy about it. The captain said all the right things after the game but was visibly upset on the bench. Washington leads the NHL in scoring with an average of 3.9 goals and Backstrom is tops on the team with 14 points.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (5-4-3): Jokinen scored in the first meeting with Washington on Oct. 8, forcing overtime with 1:19 left in regulation. Eric Staal tallied twice in that one but the Capitals won in overtime, 4-3, on defenseman Mike Green’s power-play goal. Cam Ward has presided over the Hurricanes’ last two wins, allowing two goals on 60 shots.
OVERTIME:
1. Green, who has been out since Oct. 22 with an ankle injury, could return on Friday.
2. Ovechkin has 56 points in 42 career games against the Hurricanes.
3. Staal has been limited to one point in the past six games.