Capitals hoping for ‘a spark’ in upcoming Stadium Series experience

RALEIGH, N.C. — Playing outdoors has been on Garnet Hathaway’s bucket list since he entered the NHL in 2015.

And on Saturday, after an eight-year wait, the Washington Capitals veteran will finally get to strike it off when he and his teammates visit the Carolina Hurricanes for the NHL’s annual Stadium Series game at Carter-Finley Stadium, home of the NC State Wolfpack.

“I feel really fortunate to be able to do this,” Hathaway said. “It’s going to be different. I’m going to get a lot of tips from guys about how to prepare and how it’s going to be different from Capital One Arena.”

Hathaway, who played pond hockey on his family’s farm in Kennebunkport, Maine, as a boy, has no shortage of teammates to lean on for advice. In fact, he’s one of just five full-timers on Washington’s roster yet to appear in one, joining veteran wingers Conor Sheary and Sonny Milano, second-year defenseman Martin Fehervary and backup goalie Charlie Lindgren. (Goalie Darcy Kuemper was Minnesota’s backup when the Wild hosted Chicago in 2016.) 

*Injured
**On leave

The Caps are not only experienced outdoors; they’re good, too.

They’re 3-0 all-time in outdoor games, having claimed Winter Classic victories over Pittsburgh in 2011 and Chicago in 2015 as well as a Stadium Series win over Toronto in 2018. A victory on Saturday would tie the New York Rangers (4-0-0) and Boston (4-1-0) for the most wins.

Carolina, on the other hand, is making its first appearance outdoors, though 10 players on the Hurricanes’ 23-man roster have made an appearance at a previous NHL stop.

The massive crowd, the stadium lights, the crisp night air — Hathaway and company are looking forward to it all. But they also can’t get swept up in the hoopla; it’s also a critical game for a Caps team that, after Thursday’s 6-3 loss to Florida, has dropped three straight in regulation for the first time this season and now finds itself tied with the Panthers for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 25 games to go and the New York Islanders, Detroit and Buffalo lurking.

Hathaway hopes going outdoors can help the Caps climb out of the rut they’ve slipped into.

“It’s going to be a different energy,” he said. “Right now, a spark wouldn’t hurt us. It’s lined up that we’ve lost three in a row and we’re playing an outdoor game that’s going to be a completely different environment, one that we’re looking forward to and one that we, as a veteran group, know how to feed off that energy.”

The opponent figures to also get the Caps’ collective heart rate up.

Washington-Carolina has become one of hockey’s best rivalries since the first round of the 2019 playoffs, when the Hurricanes rallied from a two-game deficit to stun the reigning Stanley Cup champions. In the three seasons since, the Caps are 5-3-2 vs. the Hurricanes, including a pair of tight games this season — a 3-2 shootout loss in Raleigh on Oct. 31 and a 3-2 regulation defeat in D.C. on Tuesday.

“They’re very fast, they shoot a lot and they crash the net hard,” Nicklas Backstrom said. “They’re hard to play against. They’re aggressive.”

The Caps’ biggest problem these days has been an offense that’s struggling to produce. It averaged 4.00 goals a game during an 11-2-2 December but, in the 18 games since the calendar flipped to 2023, it’s averaging just 2.56 goals per. Washington is 7-10-1 in those games.

Compounding the issue is the absence of leading scorer Alex Ovechkin, who left the team on Wednesday to attend his father’s funeral in Russia. The Caps are 0-3-0 without their leading scorer and captain this season, and he won’t be in Raleigh, either. 

“There’s not another Alex Ovechkin,” said Peter Laviolette, who’s coaching his fourth outdoor game. “Everybody’s got to chip in. Other guys have got to step up. We’ve got to produce. For me, there’s not one person that’s got to emerge. As a team, we’ve got to cover for him when he’s not in the lineup.”

Backstrom knows a thing or two about gathering points on outdoor ice. He’s the only player on either roster to score a game winner (2018 Stadium Series) and his three assists are tied for fourth all-time. Only Henrik Zetterberg (7), Jonathan Toews (5) and Marian Hossa (4) have more helpers.

One key to generating offense on Saturday, Backstrom said, will be making high-percentage plays and resisting the urge to get cutesy, particularly if ice is not ideal. The weather forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 56 degrees on game day. Faceoff, though, is scheduled for 8 p.m., when temps should dip into the low 40s. 

“Every time when you play outdoors, you never know how the ice is going to be,” Backstrom said, adding that the surface in Annapolis, Md. was the best he’d skated on outdoors. 

“So,” the longtime alternate captain added, “you have to keep it simple.”

Oshie agreed but he also acknowledged it’s easier said than done, particularly on the big stage.

“It’s hard sometimes to do that when you’re under the bright lights and you feel like you want to showcase your game a little,” he said. “But when the ice conditions are questionable — kind of like when it gets warm out in playoff time — you have to keep it a little simpler if you’re committed to getting the two points and giving yourself a better chance.”  

Struggling offense aside, Saturday’s game figures to be a spectacle like all outdoor games — and Hathaway plans to soak it all in. 

The NHL is expecting a crowd of 57,000 at Carter-Finley Stadium, which is just a parking lot away from the Hurricanes’ home rink, PNC Arena.

The Caps are slated to practice there at 6 p.m. Friday, giving the players a chance to get familiar with the lights, boards and playing surface as well as one more chance to get comfortable in the Stadium Series-specific gear they’ll be wearing. 

“It’s going to be a huge tell on what we might need to adjust or how we need to prepare,” said Hathaway, who has sought the advice of teammates on a variety of subjects, including underwear.

“There’s a lot of different things,” he said. “The climate and getting used to it (so) things like what kind of shirt you’re wearing underneath.”

Hathaway is also looking forward to sharing the outdoor game experience with his family. After Friday’s practice, there’s a skate for the players’ and coaches’ families, and the Caps are expecting about 150 family members to take part.

Hathaway joked about his extensive guest list, which will feature his wife Lindsay, 21-month-old son Luke, his mother and father, brother and sisters and several others. 

“It’s not gonna fill up the whole stadium, but … ” he cracked.

The stadium parking lots will open to fans at 2 p.m., giving fans of both teams ample opportunity to get, um, ready. Laviolette coached the Canes to the Stanley Cup in 2006 so he’s familiar with the traditional parking lot festivities in Carolina. 

“It should be a really great atmosphere,” Laviolette said. “It’s kind of cool because of the tailgating that goes on and the college football-type atmosphere. They’re opening the doors at 2 o’clock and the game is not until 8 o’clock. That’s just a whole boatload of time to have fun — and they do.” 

The same will go for the players, especially first-timers like Hathaway, who plans to savor the moment.

“There’s only a couple of them a year, right?” he said. “And you don’t get to decide the schedule. You don’t know where you’re going to be or how long you’re going to playing in the NHL. So to be able to experience it and to have it be with this team and against a team like the Canes, it’s going to be special.”

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)