Capitals at Hurricanes
With the Washington Capitals eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07, there's widespread speculation that the team's most valuable commodity could be traded in the offseason. If true, captain Alex Ovechkin could be staring at his final three games in a Washington uniform, starting with Thursday night's visit to the Carolina Hurricanes. The reigning Hart Trophy winner notched his league-leading 50th goal in Tuesday's win at St. Louis, becoming only the 11th player to score 50 on five occasions.
The Capitals saw their playoffs hopes end when Detroit and Columbus clinched the final two playoff slots in the East on Wednesday night, 24 hours after Carolina was mathematically eliminated following a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers. The Hurricanes have failed to reach the postseason for five straight seasons but coach Kirk Muller doesn't expect his squad to ease off the throttle. “I want to push hard here for these next three games, and then we’ll address everything – good and bad – at the end,” Muller said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Washington, FSN Carolina
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (36-30-13): Muller caused a stir when he told reporters Tuesday that No. 1 netminder Jaroslav Halak would not start against the Blues because he didn't feel "comfortable" facing his former team. That prompted a rebuttal from Halak's agent, Allan Walsh, who sent a statement to the Washington Post denying that Halak asked out. "A private conversation between a player and coach should stay private and not be discussed with the media," Walsh said. "I am bewildered that a coach would break that trust especially when those comments the coach publicly attributed to Jaro are not accurate."
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (34-34-11): Jeff Skinner delivered a splashy rookie season in 2010-11, scoring 31 goals and amassing 63 points to earn Calder Trophy honors. Despite missing 11 games to a concussion earlier this season, Skinner needs one more goal to establish a career-best total and he's on a hot streak with five tallies and three assists in his last nine games. Captain Eric Staal, who has scored 30 goals on five occasions and has a pair of 40-goal seasons, is one shy of reaching 20 tallies for the eighth time in his 10 seasons with Carolina.
OVERTIME
1. Ovechkin has collected 27 goals and 43 assists in 56 games versus Carolina.
2. Hurricanes G Anton Khudobin will go for his fourth win in as many starts against Washington.
3. The away team has won seven of the past eight meetings in the series.