Washington Capitals take on the consolation-seeking Carolina Hurricanes – NHL Preview
Washington Capitals are competing hard to be ranked among the top eight teams of National Hockey League (NHL) Eastern Conference.
With just around a month left in the playoffs, they should stay on winning track if they want to see themselves in the postseason.
Lately, they have been struggling especially because of inconsistent performance from the offence, but they have a chance to get to the winning ways as they are going to play against the lowly Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Verizon Center,
Washington, District of Columbia.
Hurricanes could provide Capitals a good opportunity to find their rhythm, but the former also has the ability to stage upsets and the latter should look out for that.
Here is a look at both the teams.
Capitals
Capitals have lost five out of the last eight games and are presently on a two-game losing streak with the recent defeats coming against New Jersey Devils (5-0) and Philadelphia Flyers (1-0).
As the score suggest, the offence failed miserably in all the games.
In the last eight games, Capitals have scored a total of 14 goals while conceding 23.
Capitals’ capital, Alex Ovechkin, said of the team’s current form:
"It's just a period of time when you try hard but you can't win the game. Again, it's not over yet, and we're going to fight through and we're going to win some games."
Capitals are ranked at ninth spot in the Eastern Conference with 69 points after 65 games and are three points behind the eighth-ranked Winnipeg Jets.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes have lost four of their last five games and are presently on a two-game losing streak with the recent defeats coming against New York Rangers (3-2) and Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3 in overtime).
Against Lightning, Hurricanes went one goal down in the first period, but hit back hard in the second and scored three goals.
However, they could not prevent the two-goal lead and conceded three goals to lose the game.
Hurricanes’ coach, Kirk Muller, said after the game:
"We played start to finish a playoff-style game. Our guys are competing and playing at a high level. I'm really happy with the performance.”
Hurricanes are ranked at 14th spot in the Eastern Conference with 62 points after 65 games.
Predictions
Capitals might be able to defeat Hurricanes.
The sum of goals scored by both the team might stay under six.
If Hurricanes win, the winning margin will be less than two goals.
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