The struggling Washington Capitals (7-7-1) continue their four-game road trip on Tuesday night. They head to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes (11-4-0) at Lenovo Center on Veterans Day.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
This is the first meeting between the Capitals and Hurricanes since their second-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Carolina took advantage of the series by winning in five games.
The Capitals dropped their first two games of the road trip in Pittsburgh and Tampa. Now they look to turn things around against a heated rival in Carolina.
The Capitals will also be without Pierre-Luc Dubois for a while, as the team announced that he will miss 3-4 months. The forward suffered a lower-body injury back on Oct. 31 vs. the New York Islanders.
The Capitals have been struggling in their last seven games, posting a disappointing 1-5-1 record. The team can’t score and the special teams has been uneven, which is odd considering the team started the season 6-2-0.
In those seven games, the Capitals have scored 16 goals, with six of those tallies coming in their lone win at home against St. Louis.
The Capitals have also been abysmal in the third period recently. In their last four losses, the team entered the third period tied, but haven’t been able to score a single goal.
With 14 goals in the third period of the team’s 15 games so far, the Capitals are tied for 28th in the NHL. The team fared much better in the third period last season, finishing third with 105 tallies.
Meanwhile, Carolina sits atop the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division standings. They have been very impressive by winning 11 of 15, despite missing three of their top six defensemen due to injuries.
Carolina will be really tough to beat as they’re currently on a four-game winning streak and 5-1-0 at home this season.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Tom Wilson
Ethen Frank – Hendrix Lapierre – Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Justin Sourdif
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goalie
Logan Thompson
Expected Hurricanes Lines
Forwards
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Nikolaj Ehlers – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
William Carrier – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook
Taylor Hall – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Eric Robinson
Defensemen
K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Alexander Nikishin – Shayne Gostisbehere
Mike Reilly – Joel Nystrom
Goalie
Frederik Andersen
How to Watch
TV: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Capitals Radio Network
Harry Lichtman is an award-winning journalist who covers the Washington Capitals for Sportsnaut. He also contributes to the sites … More about Harry Lichtman