Round 1: Washington Capitals vs Carolina Hurricanes

The Washington Captials fans are in for a nail biting round 1 of the playoffs against rival and the division winning Carolina Hurricanes...that is if they have nails left to bite after the crazy finish to the regular season. The Caps didn't clinch until the last week of the regular season after fending off the surging Red Wings, Devils & Rangers. In past seasons the Capitals were viewed as a strong team heading into the playoffs, this year the team will be in an unfamiliar role, underdogs.

Why is this team not the same as past Capitals teams to make the playoffs? The obvious reason for that is in net, previous Caps rosters boasted Roberto Luongo, a veteran who could steal games. Andrei Vasilevskiy is a terrific goalie and should be Washington's #1 for some time, but this year is a bit of a transition year, the Capitals won't reap the rewards of Vasilevskiy's emergence as a #1 until next season when he gets re-rated. His numbers this year back up the thought that he was rated inbetween a solid #1 and a platoon type goalie.

GM Jared Mitchell and Head Coach Ken Hitchcock made themselves available to the media today. Here are some highlights:

"We're as prepared as we could be" Said Hitchcock when asked about the task at hand tomorrow. "Our lines are set and I've got the guys focused on playing our game tomorrow. There should be no surprises, we've seen these guys plenty this year."

"I believe this series will be won or lost in special teams play" quipped GM Mitchell. He was asked what he feels the "X-factor" will be for the Capitals. "We need disciplined play out of all our guys for this reason. We want them to hand us power plays, not the other way around."

The season series was close, the Canes won the season series 2-1-1 on the back of good late season performances. Game 1 starts tomorrow night in Carolina.