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Hurricanes perfect penalty kill could be the ultimate game breaker for the Capitals
Photo credit: Canes Country
The Hurricanes' penalty kill has become a dominant force in the postseason, playing a key role in their success.
The Carolina Hurricanes lead the Washington Capitals 1-0 in their second-round series after an overtime win that stunned the Metropolitan Division champions. The Capitals are now looking for redemption in Game 2 on Thursday.
Hurricanes perfect penalty kill is cauding problems for the Capitals.
Jacob Punturi from Breakaway On Si writes the Hurricanes have yet to allow a power-play goal through six games in the first two rounds, boasting a perfect 100% success rate while shorthanded. What's even more impressive is the way they've been executing it.
"Their 100% success rate while a man down is impressive enough, but it's the way they are doing it that is even more impressive." -Punturi
Punturi also writes that the best way to describe the Hurricanes' penalty killing approach is aggressive. They excel at creating pressure, limiting the puck carrier's time and space to generate opportunities.
Here's what Capitals forward Brendon Duhaime had to say following his team's Game 1 overtime loss.
"It's not as much what (Carolina) did, but what we didn't do yesterday. We kind of got to look in the mirrors at ourselves and just improve." -Duhaime
The Capitals learned that lesson the hard way in Game 1. Now, they'll need to find a way to counter the Hurricanes' lethal penalty kill with their own power play.
"Washington could win the special-teams battle and put a dent in the armor of the Hurricanes' penalty-killing unit. Otherwise, the perfect PK group in Carolina will lead the Hurricanes to a commanding 2-0 series lead." -Punturi
Game 2 of their second-round matchup goes Thursday night at 7:00 from Capital One Arena in Washington.
Previously on Washington Hockey Insider
| POLL | ||
MAI 8 | 14 ANSWERS Hurricanes perfect penalty kill could be the ultimate game breaker for the Capitals Do you think the Capitals will score on the power-play in Game 2 against the Hurricanes? | ||
| yes | 10 | 71.4 % |
| no | 4 | 28.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
