The upstart Carolina Hurricanes were able to win Game 6 at home 5-2 to force the series back to Washington D.C. for Game 7. Alex Ovechkin’s goal that would have tied the game at 3-3 in the third period was waved off and the Hurricanes were able to hold on to win.
During this series, neither team has won a game on the road and the Caps do not want that trend to end now. They know they will have to be better if they want to win back to back Stanley Cup Championships. Washington will need to find what worked for them in game five when they won 6-0, for them to move on to the next round. They will need more from Evgeny Kuznetsov who has yet to score in this series. He has five assists, but will need to step up and become the game changer that he is.
Petr Mrazek (Photo by nhl.com)
The Hurricanes have been able to keep the Capitals on their toes with their aggressive fore-checks and overall tenacity. Goalie Peter Mrazek has been able to keep Carolina in the series with his outstanding play. He already has one shutout in this series and is only allowing 2.64 goals per game. Mrazek has found a way to revitalize his career with Carolina.
Carolina’s head coach Rod Brind’Amour had this to say about the upcoming game seven. “We want to finish what we started,”. “I just hope we put our best foot forward, and then we’ll see what happens. Either way, if you do, you’re going to go away feeling we did all we could, and that’s all you really want.”
Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele is having himself an amazing series. He has four goals and two assists in six games so far. He has made his presence felt and will need to continue to excel tonight if the Hurricanes want to move on.
Carolina is hoping that Mr. Game 7 aka Justin Williams can come through in the clutch yet again. Williams is 7-1 in game sevens with seven assists and 14 points. His only loss in Game 7 came when he played for the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin and company have been in their fair share of game sevens but not to the same success as Williams. Since 2008, the Ovechkin and the Caps have been in 11 game sevens, winning only four of them. Luckily for this team, they won their last Game 7 appearance, a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, en-route to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship.
Andrei Svechnikov (concussion) and Micheal Ferland (upper body injury) both missed Game 6 and are unlikely to play tonight for Carolina. Washington is without T.J. Oshie who broke his collarbone and underwent surgery. He will miss the rest of the playoffs.
The New York Islanders, who swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-round matchup awaits the winner.
Feature Image From NoVa Caps.
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