Gold: Getting set for another back to back
Posted March 3, 2022 3:33 p.m. EST
Updated March 3, 2022 4:26 p.m. EST
The next two days are going to be fun.
Over the next 36 hours (from the time of this writing), the Carolina Hurricanes will visit the Washington Capitals (tonight) and host the Pittsburgh Penguins (Friday) at PNC Arena. This marks the 9th set of back-to-back games this year, but the 5th time in the last 6 weeks.
For the sake of accounting, the Canes are 6-1-1 in the front half and 4-3-1 in the back. If you’re wondering, the Caps are 4-2-1 in their front ends and 3-3-1 in the second games. Pittsburgh, who will play tonight in Tampa, is 5-1-1 and 4-2-1 in those situations, respectively. Make of that what you will.
These are three of the four obvious playoff teams in the Metropolitan Division. The Canes are on top with 79 points, five ahead of the Penguins with Washington in 4th, 14 points in arrears, and manning the second wild card position. The Capitals have lost three in a row, the Pens have won 2 straight entering play tonight and Carolina has a 7-game point streak (5-0-2).
This will be the second meeting against each side. Carolina first took on Washington just after Thanksgiving, in Raleigh, falling 4-2. The Caps scored 59 seconds apart midway through the second period to take a 2-0 lead into the 3rd. Carolina battled back to draw even on goals from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nino Niederreiter only to see the Caps take the lead with 2:55 left in regulation on a Dmitry Orlov power play goal. John Carlson added a full-court, empty-net marker to close out the scoring.
Ten days ago, Carolina was in Pittsburgh where they took a 4-3 decision from the Pens. This was the game in which the Hurricanes scored 9 seconds into both the second and third periods – an NHL record for earliest goals in successive periods.
Teuvo Teravainen has a 9-game point streak, scoring 4 goals and totaling 12 points in that span. Sebastian Aho has 3 goals and 5 assists in a 7-game run. Captain, Jordan Staal, after going more than 2 months without a goal, has 4 in his last 10 games.
On the other side of that ledger we see the struggled of a pair of young forwards. Seth Jarvis hasn’t scored in 15 games, while Martin Necas has no goals in his last 16 and just 1 in 24 games. More troubling is that it’s filtered down into the rest of his game to the point that his ice time has dropped by more than two minutes per game, to 15:21 in that 24-game stretch.
Keep in mind that Necas is part of both the penalty kill and power play units, so special teams needs are not a reason. On Tuesday in Detroit, Necas didn’t play at all over the final 7:19 of regulation.
Alexander Ovechkin leads Washington with 32 goals and 64 points on the year. In his career, the Great Eight has 44 markers and 96 points in 82 games against the Hurricanes. He’s scored goals in 3 of his last 4 games against Carolina.
Carolina is a slight favorite (-130 ML) and the over/under is 6 goals.
Coverage begins on 99.9 the Fan at 6:30 with Storm Watch starring Alec Campbell. Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy follow with the live play-by-play just after 7:00. Make sure to follow the Canes Corner Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. A new episode drops the #MorningAfter every Hurricanes game.
