Through the first half of the game, the Carolina Hurricanes looked to have capitalized on a Washington Capitals team that was hungover on left wing Alex Ovechkin surpassing Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Leading 2-1 through 30 minutes of play, the Hurricanes (46-27-5) looked to be the better team, outshooting the Capitals (50-19-9) by a large margin. Just when it looked like the Canes would put a stop to their three-game losing skid, the Capitals took over, scoring three goals in the final 10 minutes of the middle frame.
Despite mounting a comeback in the third, the Hurricanes couldn’t find the net in the extra period, eventually losing 5-4 in the shootout. Whether it be a lack of focus with a playoff spot already clinched or a true drop in performance for Carolina, it can’t be happy with any of its performances in the past week.
Center Logan Stankoven opened the scoring when he was in the right place to put a rebound back on net quickly. Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren looked to have made the save, but never secured it, and it slowly made its way over the goal line just over five minutes into the first period to make it 1-0 Carolina.
After the two teams racked up 142 penalty minutes in the Hurricanes’ 5-1 win over Washington last week, a big question was whether that physical animosity would carry over into Thursday night’s game.
Of particular focus was Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield, who took down helmet-less center Connor McMichael in a fight that many were not a fan of. Dropping the gloves with right wing Brandon Duhaime at the 6:08 mark, Chatfield answered the bell with a scrap.
A minute later, right wing Jackson Blake doubled the Canes’ lead. Driving hard to the net, Lindgren made the initial save on Blake’s shot, but a charging Tom Wilson on the back-check caused a bit of havoc.
Drilling Blake from behind, Wilson sent the rookie into Lindgren, which resulted in Wilson, Lindgren and the puck in the net. After a review, it was determined that it was Wilson’s actions that caused the puck to cross the line; therefore, it was a good goal and a 2-0 Hurricanes lead.
A collection of defensive and goaltending mistakes at the end of the first and through the second resulted in four unanswered Washington goals. The best penalty-killing unit in the league surrendered back-to-back goals when Washington centers Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dylan Strome netted a goal each on the power play.
Failing to get a clear, box-out or cover the puck, the Canes allowed center Nic Dowd and Wilson both to follow up their own shot and score a goal. Uncharacteristic mistakes in their own zone put the Canes in a deep 4-2 hole entering the third.
Left wing Jordan Martinook got the Canes within one early at the 4:42 mark. A shot from the blue line got through traffic, notching his 14th goal of the season. The tally also marks his 35th point, a career-high in year 11.
With the clock approaching zero, the Hurricanes quickly went from losing in regulation to a tie game, thanks to the stick-work of center Seth Jarvis. Getting back defensively, Jarvis knocked a shot from Ovechkin out of mid-air to deny the empty net goal and No. 896. Charging up the ice, Jarvis made a one-two pass with center Sebastian Aho to tie the game.
Clawing the game back in the final minutes, the Hurricanes got a point but not the win. After killing off a 4-on-3 power play in overtime, it went to a shootout where Dubois was the only one to find twine.
Getting a point, however, secured home-ice advantage for the Canes in the first round when they take on the New Jersey Devils. Before that, Carolina still has four more regular-season games to play, the first of which is Saturday against the Rangers. Puck drop is at 3 p.m
