The Carolina Hurricanes finished up exhibition play for the 2019-20 season as they dropped their final preseason game to the Washington Capitals 4-3.
The theme of the game was twos, as three players each registered two goals in T.J. Oshie and Jakub Vrana for the Capitals and Sebastian Aho for the Canes. Carolina also killed off a two-man advantage twice while also surrendering two power-play goals.
“I know, the result is not great, but the overall start to finish, there wasn’t many lulls in there,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “A couple of mistakes cost us the game, but overall I liked obviously the effort and the compete was there.”
The game seemed like it was going to be all Hurricanes when Aho got things going early for the Hurricanes just 3:43 into the first period. He netted his first goal of the preseason off of the rush thanks in large part to Carolina’s aggressive forechecking and squeezed his shot through goalie Braden Holtby.
However, the momentum swung abruptly when the Capitals scored twice in a matter of minutes. Both goals were backdoor tap-ins, the first being T.J. Oshie and the second being Jakub Vrana on the power play. In both instances, blown coverages led to the Capitals’ opportunities, which was not a great look for the Canes defense.
The second period devolved into even more madness as the Hurricanes were assessed four penalties in succession, allowing Washington a five-on-three power play three times within only three minutes of play. The Canes conceded only a single goal during the flurry of penalties, as Oshie picked up his second on the last four seconds of the first five-on-three.
The Canes managed to kill off the rest of the penalties they received, but that’s when things started to escalate. Carolina defenseman Roland McKeown and Washington’s Garnet Hathaway dropped the gloves at center ice after Hathaway laid a big hit on Canes forward Brian Gibbons. The two combatants exchanged blows before losing their balance.
Later on, near the end of the second, Tom Wilson and Joel Edmundson exchanged some words near the bench and Wilson was given two and a 10 for unsportsmanlike conduct and a misconduct penalty. As the period expired, even the coaching staff of each team got involved as both began jawing across the benches.
“It was pretty intense and pretty physical out there,” said newly named alternate captain Jaccob Slavin. “Emotions were flying and I think it was a good one to end on to get everyone in the right mindset for the regular season.”
The third period opened with less aggression and more skill. Hurricanes’ forward Nino Niederreiter cut the Capitals lead to one, sniping the puck top corner bar down on Holtby to pull his team back into the game only a minute and a half into the third.
Washington would re-extend its two-goal lead a few minutes later as Vrana picked up his second goal of the game. Mrazek was supposedly screened as he moved very little as Vrana’s shot sailed past him stick side.
Carolina wouldn’t go quietly, however, as on the power play, Sebastian Aho would join the two-goal club.
In what seemed like a drawn up play, Svechnikov, from the corner, fed Eric Haula on the backdoor, who passed it back to Svechnikov as Holtby shot across to Haula. Svechnikov then fed the puck to Aho who was parked in front of the net. The puck bounced up into the air, but Aho wouldn’t be denied as he batted the puck into the open cage to bring the game back within one.
“It’s always nice to score,” Aho said. “Hopefully I can get some confidence from those goals.”
Emotions continued to run high as Washington’s Richard Panik boarded Niederreiter. Edmundson promptly skated over and was reaching to pick Panik up by his collar, but the referees separated them.
The Canes would get one more chance to tie the game up with 2:15 remaining in the game. Wilson picked up another penalty as he was called for roughing on Carolina forward Warren Foegele. The Hurricanes then pulled Mrazek for the extra skater for about two minutes of six-on-four play.
The Canes had a few scares with the empty net and they did well to prevent the Capitals from scoring, but they couldn’t find success on the other side of the ice, falling 4-3.
“The game was definitely more of what we wanted to do,” said the second newly named alternate captain Jordan Martinook. “It was how we were supposed to play, with forecheck and work as hard as you can. Probably a couple of mistakes there from overworking, but you can figure those ones out. I thought it was a good game, intense and everything you want out of a last preseason game and moving forward we need to keep bringing that.”
The Hurricanes will open up the regular season at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, Oct. 3rd at PNC Arena at 7 p.m.
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho looks for a way to the goal during the preseason game versus the Washington Capitals on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019 in PNC Arena. Aho scored two goals against the Capitals. The Canes lost to the Caps 4-3.
