“We were not ourselves in match No. 1,” said Capitals Right winger Tom Wilson on Thursday. “Even at the start and when we had the lead, it did not look like hockey of the caps.
“Tonight, we are going to focus on our level of competition, the rhythm of the game. This is the second round of the series. All the teams still alive are the best in the league. They all play good hockey. We must be at the same height on the plan of the execution and the level of competition. It is the time of the year when it is the most difficult to win. »»
Managing the incessant before the Hurricanes and forcing them to defend more often in their territory would be a good start. It would also help the Capitals to generate more opportunities to score against goalkeeper Frederik Andersen, who stopped 13 of the 14 shots directed towards him in match No. 1.
“When there are five players on you, sometimes the best game is to send the washer behind them and apply failure before,” said Center des Capitals Pierre-Luc Dubois. “They must then return the washer behind you because you play the same way with them. Sometimes fighting fire with fire is the best thing to do. We will have to skate faster. They are very fast, so you always have to move your feet and be ready to react. »»
Unsurprisingly, the Hurricanes do not want to change anything in which they played in match no 1, except that they want more opportunities to score against Thompson is transformed into goals.
Still hungry after winning match No. 1, the Caroline is fortunate to take total control of this series and return to the Lenovo Center for matches No. 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday. The Hurricanes have had a perfect 3-0 file at home since the start of the Stanley Cup playoff series.
“I think they are going to regroup,” said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’amour. “We both play the same way. We were able to impose our style of play (in match no 1), and I am convinced that they will try to return to their style. This is what we expect. I don’t think you change anything at this time of the year. You are a good team and you went here by playing in a certain way. »»
Here is what you will have to monitor during match No. 2:
Hurricanes : Mark Jankowski, who usually pilots the fourth trio, could be missing this evening. He was injured in match no 1 Tuesday. Jack Roslovic should take his place in the training if he has to be absent. The Hurricanes do not have the last change in Washington, but that does not seem to disturb them. In addition to dominating the capital in terms of penalties and attempted shots, Rod Brind’amour’s troops distributed 13 more defeats than their opponents (44-31). They won the Battle of the shoulder for a third game in a row, a sequence whose start dates back to match No 4 of their first round series against the Devils of New Jersey. Stankuven is the leader with NHL recruits with three goals since the start of the series.
Capitals : Coach Spencer Carbery did not want to confirm it, but it seems that Taylor Radady will take the place of the recruit striker Ryan Leonard, who would be left out for the first time since he signed his contract with Washington on March 31. Leonard remained on ice after morning training to skate with other excessive players, and Radady, left out in the last two games, has retired in the locker room. Expect that the winger Aliaksei Protas, who scored the only goal of the capital in match No. 1, performs occasional presence on different trios during the game. Carbery, however, said that he mainly intends to keep Protas on the fourth unit with Brandon Duhaime and Nic Dowd again. Thompson has a file of 3-1 with an average of goals allocated of 1.47 and a percentage of stops from, 951 in four departures at home in series.
The key figure: +48. The differential of attempts to shoot at 5-5-5 of the Hurricanes in match No. 1, which is the highest for a team since the start of the 2025 qualifying series. Caroline dominated 76-28 in terms of shooting attempts and 27-10 for launches to the goal at 5-CONTRE-5.
-Other elements to monitor : The Hurricanes always have a high volume of fire, as evidenced by their differential of attempts to shoot at 5-5-5 of +1341 in the regular season (the Panthers of Florida were second to +785). Will capital can find a way of limiting the time spent by Caroline in their territory? Will the Hurricanes still have the advantage in terms of the robust game, as in match no 1?
Planned training for Hurricanes
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Logan Stankoven
Jordan Martinook — Jordan Staal — Seth Jarvis
Eric Robinson — Mark Jankowski — William Carrier
Jaccob Slavin — Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov — Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere — Sean Walker
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Entrenched : Jack Roslovic, Tyson Jost, Riley Stillman, Juha Jaaska, Scott Morrow, Ty Smith, Alexander Nikishin, Spencer Martin
Hurt : None
Planned capital training
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane — Lars Eller — Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd – – Aliakshei mind
Jakob Chychrun — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Entrenched : Ryan Leonard, Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Mitchell Gibson
Wounded : Martin Fehervary (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
*With the contribution of the independent correspondent NHL.com Harvey Valentine.
