Capitals aim to ignite offense in divisional clash vs. Hurricanes

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The Washington Capitals will try to break out of a rare offensive funk in a division showdown with the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.

Washington has scored just three times over its last two games, losing both. It marks just the second time this season the Capitals have dropped consecutive games.

"Kind of just slow everywhere on the ice," forward Andrew Mangiapane told the Washington Post. "Got to kind of learn from it. We're a good team when we're playing together as a five-man unit and playing quick."

Mangiapane put Washington ahead 2-0 against Chicago on Tuesday night with his seventh goal of the season, but the Blackhawks scored three times in the third period to rally for the win.

Tuesday's loss came one night after the Capitals fell 3-1 at Dallas.

Despite the offensive struggles, Washington enters Thursday tied for the third-most points in the league (44) and is a point behind New Jersey for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Carolina sits in third place with 41 points and is 9-2-1 against its Metropolitan foes, the best mark in the division. The Hurricanes beat the Capitals 4-2 on Nov. 3 in Raleigh, N.C.

Linemates Jordan Staal, William Carrier and Jordan Martinook have fueled Carolina's offense lately.

Both Staal and Martinook have three points across their last two games, while Carrier scored just his third goal of the season in Sunday's 4-1 home win over Columbus.

Martinook's 16 points are his most through 31 games over his 11-year NHL career. Staal has assisted on five of Martinook's eight goals.

"It's nice to see them get kind of rewarded," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Their impact on the game is always there."

Carolina, which completed a 3-1-0 homestand with Tuesday night's 4-0 victory against the New York Islanders, carried good vibes into its two-day layoff.

"A good game to build off of," center Sebastian Aho said. "It doesn't matter how you win the game, but obviously you want to build your game."

Pyotr Kochetkov tallied 32 saves on Tuesday for his first shutout of the season and the team's second.

Kochetkov had Sunday off as Dustin Tokarski made his Hurricanes debut, but there's no question who Carolina's go-to netminder is. Kochetkov has recorded 13 of the Hurricanes' 20 wins this season while filling in for an injured Frederik Andersen.

"We know Koch is our guy," Brind'Amour said.

Kochetkov made 19 saves in the November victory against Washington. Carolina racked up 45 shots on goal -- its second-most of the season -- in that game. Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov scored his second and third goals of the season in the first meeting against his former team but has not tallied since.

The Capitals generally rotate goalies each game, meaning Charlie Lindgren would be due up Friday night. He would be aiming for his 10th victory of the season, though one of his six regulation losses this season came in the first meeting with the Hurricanes.

Overall, Lindgren has won four of his last five decisions. He said he likes the tone so far this season for the Capitals.

"It's a really fun team to be part of," Lindgren said. "It has been really cool to see the way we've formed an identity here the first couple months. And yeah, there's a lot of hockey left, and hopefully we keep that going."

--Field Level Media