13 Games Til Golf Season

Photo By Yardbarker.com

The Carolina Hurricanes look to finish strong and give the fans something to cheer about in the tail end of this lost season.  The Hurricanes are coming off their first back to back losses since January and don’t wanna see another losing streak.  However, the Hurricanes now see the best in the NHL come to the RBC Center tonight.

The Washington Capitals have already taken the top spot in the east and have beaten the Hurricanes three out of four times this season.  Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin will sit out the final game of his two-game suspension for his “reckless” hit on Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell in Sunday’s game that left Campbell with a broken clavicle and broken ribs.  However, the suspension of Alex Ovechkin has not affected the team this season.  The Washington Capitals are 7-2 without Ovechkin including a 7-3 win on Tuesday night in Florida.  Tonight also marks the return of fan favorite Scott Walker and Joe Corvo.  Walker had two goals in his first game as a Capital and gives the team a gritty forward, while Joe Corvo gives them a right handed shot on the PP and another offensive defenseman to take some of the pressure off of Mike Green.

With the loss against Boston on Tuesday night the Hurricanes playoff chances went from bleak to nearly impossible.  The Hurricanes had been the hottest team in the NHL until recent back to back losses against Phoenix and Boston.  “It’s pretty tough right now for sure,” said forward Erik Cole, who scored twice in a 5-2 loss to Boston on Tuesday. “It feels as bad as it did early in the year right now, and it’s a feeling we haven’t had in this room for quite a while.”  Tonight the Hurricanes look to recapture there momentum and to finish the season strong so they have something to build on in the off-season and the start of next season.  The Hurricanes lost the only match-up at home this season 3-2 in the game that saw Ovechkin’s knee on knee hit with Tim Gleason.  The Hurricanes have definitely been more consistent in goal since that point in the season.  Adding injury to insult the Hurricanes learned this morning that they have bascially lost Tim Gleason for the rest of the season.  In a year of injury lets hope the Hurricanes can give us something to cheer for in the final 13 that will be encouraging for next year.

News & Notes:  Scott Walker and Joe Corvo return home.
Tim Gleason out 3 weeks with broken foot

Injuries: CAR Tim Gleason Broken Foot
CAR Cam Ward Bad Back
WSH Milan Jurcina Hernia
WSH Boyd Gordon Back

Prediciton: WSH 3 CAR 4 F/OT