Hurricanes to Host Capitals in 2023 Stadium Series at Carter-Finley Stadium

The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will hit the ice outdoors next season. 

The NHL announced Thursday the Hurricanes will host the Capitals in the 2023 Stadium Series at North Carolina State's Carter-Finley Stadium on Feb. 18, 2023.

The teams are also set to face off Thursday in Washington.

The NHL announced last month that the Hurricanes would host the 2023 Stadium Series at the home of the Wolfpack football team but didn't reveal their opponent.

Carolina was supposed to host the event in February 2021, but it was postponed because of concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said in February: "We're thrilled to finally get the chance to safely host an outdoor game in Raleigh. Our fans have waited for this event since we announced it two years ago, and we know that their passion and energy will create an unbelievable atmosphere at Carter-Finley."

This will be the first outdoor game for the Hurricanes. They will become the 28th NHL franchise to participate in a regular-season game outdoors. The Capitals, meanwhile, have competed in three other outdoor games, including two Winter Classics (2011, 2015) and another Stadium Series game (2018). 

The Hurricanes and Capitals have met in 179 regular-season games entering Thursday night. Washington is winning the all-time season series 101-55-23. 

Carolina leads the Eastern Conference at 37-11-5 this season, while Washington is 28-18-9 and in eighth place in the East.

The rosters of both teams could look significantly different by this time next year. However, Alexander Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson figure to remain leaders for Washington, while Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin will likely power Carolina.