Washington (25-38-10) at Carolina (48-20-6) 7:00 pm EDT
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The Washington Capitals look
to beat the Carolina Hurricanes on the road for the third time
in 10 days when they meet on Monday at the RBC Center.
On March 25, the Capitals snapped an eight-game losing streak
with a 3-1 victory here, then followed it up with a 5-1 triumph
four days later.
Beginning Monday, the Southeast Division rivals will be meeting
three times over a five-day span. The latter two games will be
in Washington.
Washington, which is 14th out of 15 teams in the Eastern
Conference, is coming off a 1-0 triumph at East-leading Ottawa
on Saturday. Brent Johnson made 46 saves and Dainius Zubrus
scored on a power play for the Capitals, who improved to 3-1-2
on a seven-game road trip.
The Hurricanes are in second place in the East with 102 points,
three fewer than the Senators.
Carolina is coming off a 5-2 loss at Atlanta on Saturday in
which Rod Brind'Amour and Matt Cullen scored.
Center Josef Vasicek will return to the ice for the first time
in nearly five months for the Hurricanes. The team's leading
scorer in 2003-04, Vasicek tore several knee ligaments on
November 11 at Florida and underwent knee surgery on December 5.