Photo: @NHLCanes

The Washington Capitals fell to 0-3-1 in the preseason following a 5-1 setback to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Friday night. The team played the second game of a back-to-back after dropping a 5-2 decision at Bell Centre to the Montreal Canadiens. Forward Sergei Shumakov made his Capitals debut after signing a one-year, two-way contract with the team on September 1. 

Capitals’ Lines at Hurricanes

Tonight’s lineup in Carolina #CapsCanes #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/H0j9M6Kfoe

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 21, 2018

Goaltenders Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov split time in the net. Notable players who appeared Stanley Cup Final and dressed for the Capitals on Friday include center Nicklas Backstrom, forward T.J. Oshie, forward Chandler Stephenson, forward Jakub Vrana, defenseman Matt Niskanen, defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and goaltender Braden Holtby.

Hurricanes’ rookie, forward Andrei Svechnikov, who the team selected second overall in last year’s draft, was in the lineup for Carolina.

First Period

Svechnikov fed Valentin Zykov at the goal mouth for a lay-up 2:13 into the contest on a power-play goal to make it 1-0 Hurricanes.

Jordan Staal made it 2-0 11:38 off his left skate. Jaccob Slavin threw the puck at the net and Holtby couldn’t cover it up.

Backstrom cut the lead it half 50 seconds later after defenseman Aaron Ness faked a shot and passed to Backstrom, who had a wide-open cage to bury it. The Capitals sure made their second shot of the game count.

WE ❤️ NICKY! #ALLCAPS #CapsCanes pic.twitter.com/oeGcSstVKy

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 22, 2018

Jordan Martinook scored a shorthanded goal off of a miscue by Matt Niskanen. Martinook got it in front of the net and stickhandled around Holtby for an open net. The Hurricanes would restore their two-goal cushion shortly after Backstrom made it 2-1.

Carolina led 12-7 in shots during the first frame and held a lopsided edge in offensive zone time. The Hurricanes led 7-1 in takeaways, 13-4 in hits, and won 56% of the faceoffs. The Hurricanes scored on their lone power play of the period and had only three giveaways while the Capitals had four.

The Capitals went 0-for-2 on the power play.

Each team blocked four shots.

Second Period

The middle frame was scoreless.

The Capitals led 9-8 in blocked shots and went 0-for-4 on the man advantage after two periods of play.

The Hurricanes led 18-10 (including 6-3 in the second period) in shots, 13-3 in takeaways, and 23-13 in hits. Carolina won 57% of the faceoffs through two periods. The Hurricanes only had five giveaways while the Capitals had five. The Canes went 1-for-2 on the power play through the first two frames.

Third Period

Staal made it 4-1 on a slam dunk off of a Slavin rebound with 2:44 left.

Martin Necas scored an empty net goal from the slot and increased their lead to 5-1.

Samsonov began the final period for Washington, stopping six of seven shots faced. Holtby stopped 15 of 18 shots that came his way.

Washington led 16-9 in blocked shots and went 0-for-4 on the man advantage. The Caps led 9-8 in third-period shots.

The Hurricanes led 26-18 in shots, 19-5 in takeaways, and 35-20 in hits. Carolina won 51% of the faceoffs. The Canes went 2-for-4 on the power play. The Hurricanes only had seven while the Capitals had eight giveaways.

The Capitals visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night at 8 PM. Action from Scottrade Arena can be found on NBC Sports Washington.

By Harrison Brown