Nov. 11 vs. Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals (7-7-1)
Carolina Hurricanes (11-4-0)
Following a weekend in Tampa, the Caps are on the move again as they head into the back half of their four-game road trip on Tuesday night in Raleigh. After dropping close decisions in Pittsburgh and Tampa, respectively, to start the trip, the Caps now aim to turn the tides against the Hurricanes.
Sunday was an off day for the Capitals in Tampa, but the team did announce that center P-L Dubois underwent surgery to address injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles late last week. Dubois suffered the injury late in the first period of Washington’s Oct. 31 game with the New York Islanders. He is expected to be sidelined for three to four months.
Without one of their most effective and valuable players from last season, the Caps have been scuffling. As they enter Tuesday’s tilt with the Hurricanes, they’ve won just one of their last seven games (1-5-1). In each of the first two games of the trip, the Capitals have been even with their hosts after 40 minutes of play, but they haven’t been able to find a third-period goal.
A lack of scoring combined with some spotty special teams play has plagued the Caps through their last seven games, after they opened the season with an impressive 6-2-0 run. Across their last seven games, the Capitals have scored a total of 16 goals, with six of them coming in their lone victory over that span, a 6-1 triumph over the St. Louis Blues last Wednesday in Washington.
In each of their last four losses, the Capitals have entered the third period with the game tied, but they haven’t scored a third-period goal in any of that quartet of contests, going 0-for-6 in those extra-man opportunities that could have swung standings points in their favor. Washington is 1-3-1 in games that have been tied after two periods of play this season; they were 12-3-2 in such situations in 2024-25.
With 14 goals in the third period of their 15 games to date this season, the Capitals are tied for 28th in the League. Last season, the Caps finished third in the NHL with a total of 105 third-period lamplighters.
Last season, Dubois was not only an effective center at shutting down one of the opposition’s top two lines, he was also on the ice for 73 goals for at 5-on-5, tied for third most in the League among all forwards. He was on the ice for only 44 goals against at 5-on-5, giving him a plus-29 goal differential at 5-on-5. Since 2007-08, Dubois is one of only two centers to be on the ice for as many as 70 goals for at 5-on-5 despite taking less than 50 percent of his face-offs in the offensive zone. Florida’s Sasha Barkov was the other, in 2018-19.
Dubois isn’t going to be an easy player to replace, as the Caps have learned. And it’s likely going to take a committee of players to pull it off.
“We’re just trying to find the combination of that middle six,” said Caps coach Spencer Carbery after Saturday’s setback in Tampa. “With Dubois out now, it’s just been a challenge, whether it’s [Connor McMichael] in the middle, and [Justin] Sourdif, [Hendrix Lapierre]. And so we’re trying to figure out what that’s going to look like moving forward, whether Mikey can handle the Dubois role, and what our third line looks like. Is it Lappy [in the middle]? Is it Sourdif? How do we get Sourdif more involved and more impactful in the game?
“Those are things that we talk about, and look at, and dissect and make decisions.”
Before departing the Tampa area midway through the afternoon on Monday, the Caps conducted a noon practice at the Lightning’s practice facility in Brandon, Fla. The last four players off the ice were all forwards, the four least experienced Washington forwards: Lapierre, Sourdif, Ethen Frank and Ryan Leonard.
Carbery and assistant coach-skills Kenny McCudden were on the ice with the quartet of young players; they were doing drills with Lapierre and Sourdif specifically.
“I miss that a lot; that’s one of my favorite things about coaching,” says Carbery. “You get to do it more at the lower levels as a head coach, to be able to work with the players on the ice individually. Now, it comes more in the form of video and meetings and what not. But I love the hands on, on-the-ice, 1-on-1 work. It’s one of my favorite parts about doing this job for years.”
Despite missing three of their top six defensemen because of injury, the Hurricanes sit atop the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division standings. Carolina has also had some slow starters in its forward group in the first month of the season, but the Canes have still managed to win 11 of their first 15 games, a pace that would result in a 120-point finish if maintained through the full 82-game regular season.
Carolina enters Tuesday night’s game with a four-game winning streak overall, and with a 5-1-0 home ice record on the season to date. The Canes will be playing their third game in four nights on Tuesday against Washington; they are coming off a weekend sweep of a set of back-to-back games. The Canes beat Buffalo at home by a 6-3 count on Saturday night, then they traveled north of the border to take down the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Sunday, 5-4.
