The set-up: The surging Washington Capitals are the two-time reigning Presidents' Trophy winners. The Caps won't earn that distinction in 2018 but they are closing in on their third consecutive Metropolitan Division title. The 46-24-7 Capitals are five points ahead of the two-time defending champion Penguins (99-to-94 points), as they look to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games tonight, when they host the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina's playoff hopes unraveled after the Hurricanes lost 11 of 14 starting in mid-February and now, even if they win their final five games, they will be mathematically eliminated from contention if New Jersey earns one point over its last five games (Good night, nurse!).

Carolina: The Hurricanes saw their three-game winning streak end Tuesday night in a 4-3 loss at New Jersey. Noah Hanifin, Phillip Di Giuseppe and Warren Foegele scored for the Hurricanes, and Scott Darling made 41 saves. Forward Phillip Di Giuseppe has come alive by netting three goals and setting up three others in the past four contests, after managing just one goal and one assist in an 18-game span. He owns just five goals and five assists in 44 games. The team's top-two scorers are Aho (27 goals and 63 points) and Teravainen (23 goals and 61 points). Rookie Warren Foegele has scored in each of his first two NHL games but he was sent back to Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Thursday.

Washington: The Caps completed a home-and-home sweep of the New York Rangers on Wednesday night (3-2 OT win) to improve to 9-1-0 over their last 10 games With Philipp Grubauer ailing, Washington needed Braden Holtby to come up with a solid effort and he delivered with 35 saves against New York. However, it marked only the second time in 11 starts that Holtby has yielded fewer than three goals. Alex Ovechkin leads with 45 goals and 83 points plus Nicklas Backstrom has eight assists during a three-game point streak and is four shy of reaching 50 for the fifth straight season (19 goals and 46 assists).

The pick: Carolian will certainly fall short of the playoffs but the Hurricanes did skate to a 3-1 victory in their last visit to Washington on Jan. 11.As noted above, Holtby has been far from great in goal as of late for Washington, while veteran Cam Ward has won his last three starst for Caroina. I'll take teh 1 1/2 goals and make the Hurricanes an 8* play.