The Carolina Hurricanes beat themselves in a 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, March 3. A slow offensive start and plenty of penalties had the Canes playing catch-up for the whole game.
Carolina (37-12-5) racked up 12 penalty minutes on the night, but 10 of those came in the first two periods and six in the first alone. Two of Washington’s (29-18-9) goals came on the power play, but it took a while for the Caps to take advantage as they carried just a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
“Obviously, we can’t take that many penalties in order to win these games,” said center Sebastian Aho. “Especially these tight games. This is a great team we played tonight.”
Evgeny Kuznetsov got the lone first-period goal, beating goaltender Freddie Andersen unassisted. The Caps poured on the pain against the Canes as Martin Fehevary and Alex Ovechkin each scored in the second period, while Dimitry Orlov capped off the scoring action with a goal in the final minute.
Despite the scoreline, Andersen wasn’t terrible in the Canes crease. It’s never a good night for a defense when its goalie gets beat four times, but Andersen simply got outplayed like the rest of his squad. Facing penalty kills early and often didn’t help Andersen’s cause either.
On the other end of the ice, Vitek Vanacek played very well in net for the Capitals, stopping all 36 Carolina shots. Although the Canes didn’t really test him much, Vanacek still got the job done for Washington by keeping the Hurricanes off the board.
The Canes tried to mount a comeback later on, accumulating 30 of their shots in the final two periods. However, with Vanacek sealing off the Washington net and Carolina’s offense looking sluggish out of the gate, it simply wasn’t enough.
“I thought we did some good things,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “They never quit, the guys play hard. We had a decent third period, but the game’s over because we know we didn’t come out right and took all those penalties.”
The loss marks the first time the Canes have been shut out since their 6-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 13 and the second time they have been shut out all season. For a team that holds the fourth-best goal differential in the NHL and the best in the Metropolitan division, a 4-0 loss is simply an embarrassing result.
The Hurricanes won’t have to wait long for a chance to return to form as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on Friday, March 4. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
