The Washington Capitals fell to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Thursday night at Capital One Arena. After a sluggish start by both teams, Carolina would open the scoring in the second period with a shorthanded goal, but Lars Eller would tie things up at one apiece just before the second intermission. The ‘Canes would regain the lead midway through the final frame on a delayed-penalty, 6-on-5 man advantage, and would add an empty-netter late for the 3-1 win. The same two teams faceoff Friday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. Puck drop is 7:30 PM.
STARTERS
Scott Darling (8-11-6, 2.97 GAA, .893 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Hurricanes. The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs:
Andre Burakovsky was a late scratch due to illness. Taylor Chorney was the healthy scratch for the game.
FIRST PERIOD
A rather pedestrian first five minutes to start the contest, with Washington leading in shots on goal 5-3. The Capitals would be awarded the game’s first penalty when Marcus Kruger was called for holding Jakub Vrana at the 7:26 mark of the opening frame. The Caps would generate three quality shots including a pair by Ovechkin from the office, but ultimately were unable to convert on the man advantage.
The period would conclude without a tally. Shots on goal were 10-10 after the first 20 minutes of play. The Canes won the battle at the dot, winning 64% of the faceoffs. Brett Connolly had four shots and Alex Ovechkin had two shots to lead the Capitals for the opening frame.
SECOND PERIOD
The Hurricanes would finally light the first lamp on a short-handed goal by Jordan Staal at 11:33 of the middle frame. The goal was setup by a very poor turnover by John Carlson just inside the blue line.
The Capitals would tie the game on a goal from Lars Eller at 16:05 of the middle frame. T.J. Oshie and Christian Djoos were credited with the assists.
The period would end with the game tied 1-1. Carolina outshot Washington 15-8 for the second period, and led 25-18 after two periods of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Hurricanes would re-gain the lead while on a 6-on-5 man advantage. Viktor Rask would find the back of the net from a sharp angle on a delayed-penalty call on Tom Wilson at 10:54 of the final frame.
Carolina would add an empty-net goal at 18:31 by Sebastian Aho for the 3-1 win.
SHAVINGS
- The Caps snapped a five-game winning streak and 10 game home winning streak.
- Tonight’s attendance was 18,506, the Capitals 387th consecutive sellout at Capital One Arena.
- The NHL box score is here.
By Jon Sorensen
SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT