RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes bring a five-game winning streak and the NHLs best early record into Tuesdays rematch with the Washington Capitals at Lenovo Center, looking for payback after a 5-2 home loss to Washington on Oct. 2.
Carolina is 5-1-1 for 11 points and sits first in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals enter at 3-2-0. The Hurricanes flattened the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Sunday behind multi-point nights from Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and William Carrier, with Pyotr Kochetkov stopping 18 shots to move to 3-0-0.
Aho leads Carolina with six goals, matching the NHL lead, and has points in six straight games. Mark Jankowski has scored in four consecutive games, a career-best run. The club has outscored opponents 25-11 during the streak and leads the league with 27 goals through seven games.
Washington already took the first meeting in Raleigh this month. Forward Tom Wilson paces the Capitals with five points in five games, and newcomer Alex Tuch has three goals, two of them against Carolina. Tuesday is also expected to be Alexander Ovechkins final regular-season game in North Carolina if this is his last NHL season, as he told teammates last week.
Goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder faces a choice between Brandon Bussi, next in the recent rotation after a win in Chicago, and Kochetkov, who is perfect this season. Carolina then has four days off before Saturday in Winnipeg.
Without Jordan Staal (lower-body), other forwards have filled minutes during the surge. A home win would extend the streak to six and even the season series with a division rival that already left Lenovo Center with two points earlier this month.
