Hurricanes at Capitals
The Carolina Hurricanes have rebounded from a dismal start to the season by winning four straight, while the Washington Capitals snapped a five-game winless streak in their last contest. The Metropolitan Division rivals look to build off a pair of 3-2 victories when they meet at the Verizon Center on Saturday. Elias Lindholm recorded his third game-winning goal in four contests by tallying 4:22 into overtime as Carolina edged reeling Columbus on Friday.
"Let's ride that as long as we can," Hurricanes captain Eric Staal said of the team's winning streak. "It's a lot more fun being on this side than the other." The Capitals surrendered the first two goals against Chicago on Friday before storming back as Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky each collected a goal and an assist during a late second-period surge. Johansson has netted four tallies and set up three others during his five-game point streak.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Carolinas, CSN Plus DC (Washington)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (4-6-2): Jeff Skinner, who scored on Friday, recorded five goals and three assists as Carolina claimed three of its five meetings with Washington last season. Although Cam Ward turned aside 29 shots to record his first four-game winning streak since Jan. 24-30, 2010, Anton Khudobin is expected to make his first start since Oct. 24. The 28-year-old Russian has yielded 13 goals and posted an 0-3-1 mark this season but owns a 3-1-0 career record in four starts versus Washington.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (5-5-3): Captain Alex Ovechkin saw his three-game point streak come to a halt on Friday but has recorded 27 goals and 43 assists in 57 career meetings with the Hurricanes. Ovechkin scored three goals and set up two others while Troy Brouwer tallied four times in the 2013-14 season series with Carolina. After Braden Holtby made 38 saves on Friday, backup Justin Peters is in line to make his first start since yielding six goals against Arizona on Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. Washington RW Joel Ward has scored in three straight contests and has five tallies in his last six.
2. Carolina has scored a power-play goal in three of the last four games after failing to do so in five of its previous six.
3. The Capitals failed on their lone power-play opportunity Friday after going 5-for-14 in their previous four contests.