2024-25 Regular Season, Game 10 Preview: Hurricanes vs. Washington Capitals

The Carolina Hurricanes' reward for a successful 5-1-0 road trip was returning to Raleigh on Halloween to face the Boston Bruins. They didn't disappoint the Caniacs after two weeks away from home. Jack Roslovic got the scoring early and after Brad Marchand scored during a 5-on-3, the Canes exploded for three goals in 52 seconds. Andrei Svechnikov redirected a shot from Shayne Gostisbehere on the power play, Jackson Blake deflected a chance from Dmitry Orlov, and Martin Necas got a friendly bounce off a skate with the man advantage to take a 4-1 lead after the first period. Hampus Lindholm cut into the Canes' lead, but Svechnikov and Roslovic each scored their second goal of the night 41 seconds apart to push the lead to four. Sean Walker potted his first goal as a Hurricane and Jesperi Kotkaniemi added his first of the season to complete an 8-2 masterpiece victory to begin their four-game homestand.

The Opponent: Washington Capitals (8-2-0, 16 Points, 1st in the Metropolitan Division)

After sneaking into the postseason at the end of the season, the Capitals met their swift demise in the first round, losing four straight against the New York Rangers. While no one expected them to win the series, it started Spencer Carbery's tenure on the right foot. The Capitals got aggressive during the offseason, bringing in Andrew Maniapane, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, and Logan Thompson through trades to build around Alex Ovechkin. Despite numerous major injuries costing stalwarts their season, the Capitals have gotten off to a hot start. Ovechkin is among four players with at least ten points, along with Dylan Strome, who leads the team, Connor McMichael, and Aliaksei Protas. McMichael leads the team in goals (7), with Ovechkin and Tom Wilson behind him with six. Thompson and Charlie Lindgren have formed a strong duo in the net, even if their overall numbers don't look incredible. The Capitals are playing the second half of a back-to-back after dominating the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

Last Season's Meetings: Each team won two meetings last season, but the Hurricanes edged the Capitals in points by taking six of a possible eight in four games. Their first contest in Raleigh was the Canes' second game after a long six-game road trip. Sebastian Aho and Martin Fehervary traded goals in the second period before future Hurrican Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the only goal in the shootout to help the Capitals steal one. Just under three weeks later, the Canes were in D.C., where they would use a five-goal third period to rout the Capitals 6-2. Vasily Ponomarev, making his NHL debut, recorded a goal and an assist, Brent Burns scored two goals and an assist, and Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov added three points each.

The Hurricanes were back in the nation's capital in late March for a shootout of two kinds. Sonny Milano and Sebastian Aho traded hat tricks in a see-saw 6-6 game that required the skills competition to determine a winner. Once again, the Hurricanes failed to score in the shootout while conceding a goal to Dylan Strome in the fifth round. In early April, the two sides completed their season series in Raleigh. Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the first period, but the Hurricanes scored four unanswered, including two from Jake Guentzel, to win the game, 4-2. Aho recorded eight points in the four games, while Strome was close behind with seven.

Stories of the Night

1. The Pursuit of Gr8ness

After scoring on Saturday against Columbus, Alex Ovechkin has 859 career goals, putting him 36 goals away from being the all-time NHL goals leader. Ovechkin has been on fire to begin the season and comes into Sunday's contest with eight points in his last three games. No team has felt Ovechkin's wrath worse than the Hurricanes. In 90 contests, Ovechkin has 50 goals, tied for his second-most against any team (Atlanta/Winnipeg- 55), and 104 points, the most against any team in his career. He's looking like the Ovechkin of old after a slightly mediocre season in 2023-24.

2. Following Up Their Lopsided Wins

Both Carolina and Washington are coming off one-sided affairs in their last games. The Capitals jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period of a 7-2 victory over the Blue Jackets on Saturday, while the Hurricanes have had two days off since beating the Bruins 8-2 on Thursday. With both offenses feeling confident after big wins, it'll be interesting to see which starting goalie can weather whatever storm is thrown at them. It'll also be worth watching whether Washington got all their goals out on Saturday as they play the second half of a back-to-back.

3. An Early Divisional Test for the Hurricanes

While this is their third division game, this is the Hurricanes' first big division test of the season to begin three straight against the Metropolitan. The Devils and the Penguins are good teams, but neither has started like Washington. With two days between games, the Hurricanes are rested. They have played like a team possessed during their five-game win streak. There's nothing Washington does that should force the Hurricanes to change their identity. If they stick to their style, the streak should be at six on Monday.