Hurricanes at Capitals 4/11/19 - NHL Playoffs Picks & Predictions

On Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Washington Capitals for Game 1 of their NHL Eastern Conference best of seven first round series. The Hurricanes won their final three games of the regular season capped off by a 4-3 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday. Jordan Staal scored Carolina’s go-ahead goal during the second period and the Hurricanes held on for the win.

Washington is coming off a loss in its final game of the regular season after falling to the New York Islanders 3-0 on Saturday. The Capitals took 29 shots on net in the loss but could not put one past Islanders goalie Robin Lehner. Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie and goalie Braden Holtby were all held out of the final game for the Capitals. Sebastian Aho is the Carolina leader in goals scored with 30 and points with 83. Teuvo Teravainen leads in assists with 55. Goalie Petr Mrazek is 23-14-3 with a goals against average of 2.39 and a save percentage of .914. Carolina is 16th in goals scored per game at 2.96 and 7th in goals against at 2.70.

Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in goals scored with 51 and in points with 89. John Carlson is the Capitals leader in assists with 57. Braden Holtby in goal is 32-19-5 with 2.82 goals against average and .911 save percentage. Washington is 5th in goals scored per game at 3.34 and 17th in goals against per game at 3.02.