The Carolina Hurricanes saw their four-game winning streak come to an end at the Lenovo Center with a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
The Canes were not in control of this one at any
point, as fthey were quickly forced into a shorthanded situation. They killed the penalty off, but Brandon Duhaime scored off a defensive lapse to give Washington an early 1-0 lead.
A hit on goaltender Frederik Andersen woke the team up as players jumped to his defense, with Logan Stankoven dropping the gloves with Martin Fehervary to defend Jackson Blake.
That didn’t generate any momentum early in the second period, as Alexander Ovechkin sprung Dylan Strome on a breakaway, and Strome beat Andersen high to make it 2-0.
Carolina got back into the game later in the second period when Nikolaj Ehlers scored to extend his point streak to five games, but that was all the offense the Hurricanes would muster.
Washington defended well in the third, and goaltender Logan Thompson continued his run of phenomenal form in slamming the door shut. Thompson finished the night by stopping 30 of 31 shots, while Andersen turned aside 24 of 27.
Carolina’s Danish netminder was ultimately forced out of the game after a collision with Jordan Staal, so Pyotr Kochetkov finished out the contest.
The Capitals got goals from Jakob Chychrun on a power play and Ovechkin on the empty net to expand their lead to three throughout the third.
The loss was the Hurricanes’ first defeat at the hands of a Metropolitan Division opponent to start the year, and it sent their record down to 11-5-0 through 16 games.
Carolina will look to get back into the win column on Friday night when the Vancouver Canucks make their annual visit to Raleigh.
