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Hurricanes try to beat Capitals for second time in nine days

Nov 17, 2006 - 2:48 PM Carolina (10-7-3) at Washington (8-5-5) 7:00 pm EST

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Eight days after they had their way with the Washington Capitals, Erik Cole and the Carolina Hurricanes try to continue their hot stretch when the Southeast Division rivals square off again Thursday.

On November 9, Cole recorded a hat trick and Cam Ward made 20 saves for his first regular-season shutout as the Hurricanes rolled to a 5-0 victory over the Capitals.

That triumph began a stretch of three wins in four games for Carolina, which is coming off Wednesday's 2-1 win against the New York Rangers. Rod Brind'Amour scored the game-winner midway through the third period and Ward turned aside 23 shots for the defending champions.

The Capitals followed their defeat to the Hurricanes with consecutive victories before coming up short in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout loss to Boston. Matt Pettinger and Dainius Zubrus scored in regulation for Washington, which fell to 0-4 in shootouts this season.

Olaf Kolzig made 33 saves through overtime before allowing the decisive tally to Patrice Bergeron in the shootout. Kolzig has yielded only four goals on 122 shots in his last three contests.

The teams have split two meetings this season. The Capitals captured a 5-2 triumph in the first matchup on October 7 as Alexander Semin recorded a hat trick and Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of third-period goals.