In a matchup between two of the best teams in the NHL, the Carolina Hurricanes struggled to solve Washington Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren while the Capitals took advantage of its few opportunities in a 3-1 win over Carolina.

Both offenses struggled to generate quality chances for most of the night so it came down to which goalie would make the save when those opportunities arose. Lindgren was the one who rose to the occasion while Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov faltered.

Kochetkov matched Lindgren’s efforts early on. The Capitals got a power play just under three minutes into the first period after Carolina was called for too many men on the ice and Washington peppered the netminder with shots. The Capitals fired off four shots on the power play and Kocketkov stopped all of them to keep the game tied.

After Washington tested Kochetkov early, the Hurricanes defense stepped up and didn’t allow the Capitals to record another shot on goal until six minutes later in the period. While Carolina locked down the Capitals, it couldn’t create any offense as it recorded just six shots in the first period.

It looked like the Canes would survive the Capitals’ early offensive onslaught and go into intermission tied but with less than a minute to go, Washington scored. Left wing Andrew Mangiapane fired a shot from just below the blue line with center Aliaksei Protas screening Kochetkov. The 6-foot-6 Protas blocked Kochetkov’s vision of the puck while tipping Mangiapane’s shot into the top left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

It wasn’t until the second period that it became the Lindgren show. The Capitals goalie had to withstand two power plays where the Hurricanes put five shots on goal but his best save of the night came at even strength. After Kochetkov had just made two incredible saves himself, Canes center Tyson Jost was in a great position to tie the game when he received the puck deep in the Capitals’ zone.

With Lindgren having to slide across the net after Carolina right wing Jackson Blake made a cross-ice past, Jost had a lot of net to work with. Jost fired a ripped a shot that Lindgren snagged with his glove while horizontal and his right leg off the ice.

The Hurricanes had plenty more opportunities after that but failed to capitalize like the Capitals did late in the period. On a rush with just under four minutes into the period, Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana raced by defenseman Jalen Chatfield and slotted a shot over the glove of Kocketkov for a 2-0 lead.

Just over three minutes later, Washington center Connor McMichael wristed a shot from the slot over Kocketkov’s right shoulder and Protas was there again blocking Kochetkov’s view. Despite outshooting the Capitals 11-6 in the period and having two power plays, the Hurricanes found themselves down 3-0 going into the final frame.

The Hurricanes were able to avoid getting shut out when center Seth Jarvis scored with just under 10 minutes left in the period. Jarvis passed it to center Sebastian Aho who quickly gave it back to Jarvis who placed the puck perfectly between the left arm of Lindgren and the post into the back of the net to cut the deficit to 3-1.

That’s all the Hurricanes would get despite outshooting the Capitals and shutting down their power play. Instead of pulling within a point with the Capitals in the Metro, Washington built a four-point edge over Carolina with the win.

Up next, the Hurricanes will travel up north to take on the New York Rangers on Sunday. Puck drop is set for 12:30 p.m.