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Hurricanes take on Capitals in matchup of winless teams

Oct 7, 2006 - 3:24 PM Carolina (0-1-1) at Washington (0-1-0) 7:00 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- After winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Carolina Hurricanes are off to a rough start.

After dropping their first two games of the season, the Hurricanes hope to earn their first win when they visit the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

This is the first of seven straight road games for Carolina, which had its ceremony for last season's championship ruined on Wednesday with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. It also absorbed a 4-0 setback to the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

The Capitals are also looking for a win as they open their season at home. They had two costly turnovers that led to goals in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

The Hurricanes must be concerned about their lack of offense so far. Recording the third-most goals in the NHL last season, Carolina is only 1-for-14 on power plays.

The Capitals also must do better on the power play, after going 0-for-8 in season opener.

Last year's Calder Trophy winner who became the second rookie in history to score 50 goals and 100 points in one season, Alexander Ovechkin came up empty against New York.

The Hurricanes were 5-3 in eight regular-season games against the Capitals last year.