RALEIGH, N.C. -- Home ice has truly been an advantage for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2024-25. They tied for the most home wins during the regular season with 31 and already are 3-0 at Lenovo Center in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
If the trend holds Saturday, the Hurricanes can take back control of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round in Game 3 against the Washington Capitals (6 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).
"The fans, it's loud in there," Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said of playing at Lenovo Center. "When we get going in there it's just a different atmosphere and you feed off of that. It really does make a difference."
The teams split the first two games in Washington; the Hurricanes won the opener 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday and the Capitals took Game 2 with a 3-1 win Thursday.
Carolina went 31-9-1 with a plus-44 goal differential (155-101) at home during the regular season. The Hurricanes won all three of their home games in the first round against the New Jersey Devils by a combined 12-6.
"Probably the energy," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said of what has led to some of the success at home. "I would assess that the game, we're certainly not doing anything differently.
"Maybe that energy that gets you those few extra shifts in the zone because you have a little more juice, creates a little play here and there, that's the difference in games. I know the crowd is a big deal, but it's not really a style, a change or anything like that."
The Capitals arrive for Game 3 feeling much better about themselves after their effort and result in Game 2; they were pressuring more and controlling more of the play, especially in the second period.
They had 21 shots on goal and 50 total shot attempts, but that was an improvement after their 14 shots and 34 attempts in Game 1.
"Significant parts of Game 2, you can see us getting to the level that we're going to need to play at," Washington coach Spencer Carbery said, "and it's going to even get a little bit more difficult going on the road.
"I know the guys can feel it as well and have confidence that they understand that, 'OK, we got this series back to square one.' Evened it up. We did what we had to do in Game 2 to get back into the fight. And now going on the road for two and them having home ice advantage, the challenge increases a little bit and that means that we're going to have to beat that challenge.
"Our game and the things that we're doing on the ice for 60 minutes is going to have to be better. And I think they know that, have embraced that. I genuinely believe we can play better. So hopefully that comes to fruition in Game 3."
Here is a breakdown of Game 3:
Capitals: They're expecting a loud, hostile environment Saturday, but can leaning on their experience from the first round, when they played Games 3 and 4 at Bell Centre in Montreal, where the noise made it hard at times for Carbery to even communicate with players sitting right in front of him on the bench. The Capitals also struggled in that environment in Game 3, when giveaways were a big problem in a 6-3 loss; Montreal scored four of its six goals directly off Washington turnovers. "But Game 4 was much better in Montreal," Carbery said of Washington's ensuing 5-2 win. "You could argue, these are two of the most difficult buildings -- Montreal and Carolina -- to play in in the League. So it's good we can rely on that experience."
Hurricanes: There's very little about the first two games Carolina would like to change; Gostisbehere brought up their starts. "I don't know if we were the best ready for the game," he said. "From the first shift we missed a couple passes, which stresses us back in our end." Brind'Amour said some of Washington's Grade A scoring chances were "self-inflicted." He said the Hurricanes have to avoid the unforced turnovers. But overall, with 61 shots on goal, 180 total shot attempts and only four goals against, three with goalie Frederik Andersen in net, there's not much to complain about. "I've liked how we've played," Brind'Amour said.
Number to know: 65. That's how many Carolina shots Washington has blocked through Games 1 and 2; conversely, the Hurricanes have 19 blocked shots in the series. Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Brandon Duhaime each has eight blocks entering Game 3.
What to look for: Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time goal-scoring leader, does not have one yet in the series after he had four in the first round and 44 during the regular season. He has four shots on goal; one in Game 1 and three in Game 2. The Capitals captain went three games without a goal twice in the regular season, the last time Jan. 6-10.
What they are saying
"I would say one of the strengths of our group is being able to defend. Especially against a team that's right up there with the top teams in the League at spending the most time in the offensive zone, we know we're going to spend some time there, so it's important that our details and our structure is dialed in. Whether that's shot blocks, whether that's coverage stuff -- a lot of things that go into it -- but that's something we take a lot of pride in." -- Carbery
"I just like how much everything means (in the playoffs), how important every little battle detail is. It's fun when you can play in those moments, those precious situations. That's what I love to do is be in those big moments. I'm still working on capitalizing in those big moments, but we're getting there. Being able to affect the game in different ways is a lot of fun." -- Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane -- Lars Eller -- Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Anthony Beauvillier
Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ryan Leonard, Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Mitchell Gibson
Injured: Martin Fehervary (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
Hurricanes projected lineup
Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Logan Stankoven
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Seth Jarvis
Eric Robinson -- Jack Roslovic -- William Carrier
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Sean Walker
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Injured: Mark Jankowski (undisclosed)
Scratched: Tyson Jost, Riley Stillman, Juha Jaaska, Scott Morrow, Ty Smith, Alexander Nikishin, Spencer Martin
Status report
Lindgren is expected to be the backup to Thompson after missing Game 2 because of personal, family reasons. … Jankowski is "doubtful" to play for the second straight game; the forward skated in an optional practice Friday and Carolina's optional morning skate, but Brind'Amour said he isn't quite 100 percent yet.
NHL.com independent correspondent Kurt Dusterberg contributed to this report
