Story By Richard Thomas
Photos By: Hal Jalikakik
Washington, D.C–
One night before the Washington Capitals take the ice in Carolina, many have been asking is this team good enough to repeat? Based on what we saw the past two games, it would be tough to say that at this rate of play the would not.
In Game 1, the Caps showed total domination by jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead that they never looked back on. They came back in Game 2 and the Hurricanes played a lot closer then in first game, but they lacked the aggression overall that the Caps had going in their favor.
Alex Ovechkin has done it all through these first two games, from striking on the power play in Game 1 to adding two highlight-reel helpers in Game 2. He’s also been outstanding on the back check. Look for him to be a threat and keep playing a 200-foot game.
“We get to this time of the year, I’m probably not counted on for too many goals,” said Brooks Orpik. “But I think if you want to have the long runs, you need everybody kind of chipping in and doing things they don’t normally do.”
For the Hurricanes its do or die come Monday and they are a better team that many give them credit for this season.
Sebastian Aho recorded his first playoff goal and point of his career Saturday for the Hurricanes, finally managing to find twine this series. He led the Hurricanes with 30 goals and 83 points in the regular season and seems to be finding his game heading into Game 3.
