The Hurricanes are coming into this game with a 1-0 series lead and they are coming off of a 2-1 win in OT against the Capitals in game 1. The Hurricanes came from behind to win that game in OT but they were the more dominant team all night. They outplayed the Capitals for most of that game and even doubled them in shots as the Capitals were only able to get 14 shots in that game. The Hurricanes played a much better game and now have the home advantage in the series with that road win, but that means the Capitals need this game a lot more as they do not want to go to Carolina down 2-0 in the series so they are going to come out as the hungrier team here and will be pushing hard for the win at home. The Capitals were much better at home in their last series against the Canadiens as they won all 3 of their games there and 2 of those 3 wins were by 2+ goals as well. They were also much better at home for most of the regular season while the Hurricanes were awful on the road all year, and they were not playing well on the road in their last few games of the regular season either. The Hurricanes outplayed the Capitals in game 1 with more than double the number of shots, but they still struggled to win that game as they had to come from behind and it still needed overtime. The Hurricanes also won that game with their speed, but now that the Capitals are 1 game into this series and are going to be more settled into this game, they will be able to dictate the pace of this game better as they will make it a more physical game and impose their will on the Hurricanes, unlike the last game. The Capitals are going to muck up this game more after losing a very close game at home in OT when they had a lead and they will find a way to grind out the win here to even up the series. The Capitals will win this game at home.