One road game before an extended homestand.
The Canes look to extend their season-long 4 game winning streak against the semi-slumping Caps. Noesen missed practice yesterday due to illness, Necas took a hard check into the boards but appeared OK after practice. RBA has a decision to make in goal, with a back to back followed by 4 days off. Does he keep rolling with Kochetkov against a Division opponent and let Raanta play against the West or does he use Raanta against the low scoring Caps. We’ll see.
The Caps have dropped to 6th in the Division but are tied for 4th on points percentage with 42 points in 36 games. They’re 4-4-2 in their last 10 and are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Devils on Wednesday. Dylan Strome leads with 13 goals, Tom Wilson (the Caps All-Star) and Anthony Mantha have 11. That Ovechkin Guy? He has 8, along with 16 assists for a team leading 24 points. He's on a 3 game point streak with 2 goals and 2 assists. In goal, the Caps have used Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren fairly evenly, but Lindgren was injured last week and put on IR. He’s not eligible to come off until Sunday. Rookie Hunter Shepard was recalled and played on Wednesday, so we should see Kuemper tonight. He’s at 3.15/.893 in 19 games. The Caps aren’t scoring a lot, they’re 30th in the league in goals per game at 2.36. Only the Sharks have scored fewer goals than the Caps. They’re 11th in goals against. Their PP isn’t good, 28th at 13.7% but like the Canes, it’s been hot lately, 8 for 29 over their last 11 games. The PK is 12th.
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The Canes look to extend their season-long 4 game winning streak against the semi-slumping Caps. Noesen missed practice yesterday due to illness, Necas took a hard check into the boards but appeared OK after practice. RBA has a decision to make in goal, with a back to back followed by 4 days off. Does he keep rolling with Kochetkov against a Division opponent and let Raanta play against the West or does he use Raanta against the low scoring Caps. We’ll see.
The Caps have dropped to 6th in the Division but are tied for 4th on points percentage with 42 points in 36 games. They’re 4-4-2 in their last 10 and are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Devils on Wednesday. Dylan Strome leads with 13 goals, Tom Wilson (the Caps All-Star) and Anthony Mantha have 11. That Ovechkin Guy? He has 8, along with 16 assists for a team leading 24 points. He's on a 3 game point streak with 2 goals and 2 assists. In goal, the Caps have used Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren fairly evenly, but Lindgren was injured last week and put on IR. He’s not eligible to come off until Sunday. Rookie Hunter Shepard was recalled and played on Wednesday, so we should see Kuemper tonight. He’s at 3.15/.893 in 19 games. The Caps aren’t scoring a lot, they’re 30th in the league in goals per game at 2.36. Only the Sharks have scored fewer goals than the Caps. They’re 11th in goals against. Their PP isn’t good, 28th at 13.7% but like the Canes, it’s been hot lately, 8 for 29 over their last 11 games. The PK is 12th.
Bally Sports South for TV