Exhibition Preview: Hurricanes vs. Capitals

TORONTO - Hockey is back!

Yes, you read that correctly: Hockey. Is. Back.

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Washington Capitals in their lone exhibition match before the Stanley Cup Qualifiers begin this weekend.

Gearing Up

It might not count for anything, but that doesn't take away from the importance of this afternoon's exhibition match.

To start, this is the one and only opportunity for the Canes to get up to game speed before jumping in to a best-of-five postseason series.

"We haven't really done much contact. Yes, we're playing hard against each other, but it's a huge difference when you get hit," Justin Williams said on Monday. "I'm going to throw a few hits that probably aren't going to hurt anybody, and I'm going to take some hits as well. I don't think we're going to be diving in front of Ovechkin's shot to block it, but we're going to be out there playing hard, getting ourselves as close to ready as we can get."

After two-plus weeks of practice, it's time to take lessons learn and apply them in an actual game situation, something the team hasn't done in more than four months.

"We need to see how our guys are playing and more the meshing of everything and how we grasp our game plan," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said on Tuesday. "That's what I'm looking for."

This game might not count, but the Canes need to make it count.

"You have to get into it really quick mentally," Jaccob Slavin said. "Normally, a regular preseason you have four or five games that you can kind of get up to speed. Now, we're just straight to playoffs, straight to the real deal."

Hamilton, Necas Not Expected to Play

Dougie Hamilton and Martin Necas are not expected in the Canes' exhibition lineup. Hamilton left practice last Wednesday, and Necas didn't make it through the team's skate on Saturday. Both haven't practiced since but have been working out off the ice.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Look for Haydn Fleury to draw in as the team's seventh defenseman, while Steven Lorentz joined the team's practice on Tuesday as the 13th forward.

The Opposition

The opponent for this game is almost rather meaningless, but the recent history between the two teams should add a pinch of spiciness.

The Canes and Caps, of course, squared off against one another in the First Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the first postseason meeting between the longtime divisional rivals. The thrilling and emotional series was decided in double overtime of Game 7 in Washington, when Brock McGinn tipped in a centering feed from Williams.

Though the 2019-20 regular season was cut short, the two teams completed their four-game series. The Caps finished with a 2-1-1 edge after winning the last two games of the season slate in the first two weeks of January.

Since 1997, Carolina is 16-10-1 against Washington in exhibition games.

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