The Capitals want to ignite the offense in the divisional duel against the Hurricanes

The Washington Capitals will look to break out of a rare offensive slump in a divisional showdown with the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.

Washington has scored just three times in its last two games and lost both. It is only the second time this season that the Capitals have lost consecutive games.

“Kind of slow all over the ice,” forward Andrew Mangiapane told The Washington Post. “I have to learn from it somehow. We are a good team when we play together as a group of five and play quickly.”

Mangiapane gave Washington a 2-0 lead over Chicago on Tuesday night with his seventh goal of the season, but the Blackhawks scored three goals in the third period and held out hope for the win.

Tuesday’s loss came a night after the Capitals lost 3-1 in Dallas.

Despite the offensive difficulties, Washington enters Thursday’s game tied for the third-most points in the league (44) and one point behind New Jersey for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Carolina sits in third place with 41 points and is 9-2-1 against its Metropolitan opponents, the best record in the division. The Hurricanes defeated the Capitals 4-2 on November 3 in Raleigh, North Carolina

Linemates Jordan Staal, William Carrier and Jordan Martinook have fueled Carolina’s offense of late.

Both Staal and Martinook have three points in their last two games, while Carrier scored just his third goal of the season in Sunday’s 4-1 home win over Columbus.

Martinook’s 16 points are his most in 31 games during his 11-year NHL career. Staal has assisted on five of Martinook’s eight goals.

“It’s nice to see them get rewarded in some way,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Their impact on the game is always there.”

Carolina, which completed a 3-1-0 home record with a 4-0 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, brought good vibes to its two-day break.

“A good game to build on,” said center Sebastian Aho. “It doesn’t matter how you win the game, but of course you want to develop your game.”

Pyotr Kochetkov recorded his first shutout of the season and second for the team with 32 saves on Tuesday.

Kochetkov had Sunday off as Dustin Tokarski made his Hurricanes debut, but there’s no question who Carolina’s favorite goaltender is. Kochetkov has recorded 13 of the Hurricanes’ 20 wins this season while filling in for the injured Frederik Andersen.

“We know Koch is our man,” Brind’Amour said.

Kochetkov made 19 saves in the November win over Washington. Carolina had 45 shots on goal in the game, the second most this season. Hurricanes defender Dmitry Orlov scored his second and third goals of the season in the first meeting against his former team, but has not scored since.

The Capitals typically rotate goaltenders every game, which means Charlie Lindgren will have to start on Friday night. He is looking for his tenth win of the season, although one of his six regular season losses this season came in the first meeting with the Hurricanes.

Overall, Lindgren has won four of his last five decisions. He said he likes the tone of the Capitals so far this season.

“It’s really fun to be part of a team,” Lindgren said. “It was really cool to see how we formed an identity here in the first few months. And yeah, there’s a lot of hockey left and hopefully we’ll stick with it.”