The last time the Capitals and Hurricanes met in Raleigh, Washington won 3-0.
After two goals in two periods, the Capitals are on pace to match that scoreline. And after two goals in two periods, Nicklas Backstrom is on pace for his first career regular season hat trick.
After scoring the first goal of the game late in the first period off a rebound from an Alex Ovechkin shot, Backstrom scored again early in the second. This time, he did most of the work himself. Backstrom started the goal sequence by holding the puck up amongst two Carolina players before feeding Ovechkin. Backstrom got the puck back quickly and used some fancy stickwork to beat a defender and elude goaltender Justin Peters for his second of the night.
Ovechkin has been very active tonight, leading all players with eight shots on goal. The captain obviously has taken his criticism very seriously by stepping up and setting an example for his teammates.