The Carolina Hurricanes were the talk of the league with their historic comeback victory on Thursday night. And much of the pregame buzz centered on that win over Utah two nights ago.
The task for this
team was to harness that momentum against an opponent desperate for a win, fighting for their playoff lives.
And for half of the game, it seemed as though the Hurricanes would be able to handle the Capitals.
But after Carolina built a 3-0 lead, the team sat back, had some defensive miscues, and allowed Washington to score four straight goals to earn the overtime victory.
This is a game that infuriates head coach Rod Brind’Amour, and his postgame comments reflect that:
From the opening puck drop to the end, I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a 60-minute game where we were that bad. They dominated us from start to finish.
Just two and a half minutes into the game, Taylor Hall takes a penalty. This was not the ideal start for Carolina, but the penalty was killed with just one shot allowed.
The Canes did not find their rhythm until about halfway through the first period. At the 13:27 mark, Mark Jankowski scored the first goal of the game. William Carrier took a hit in the corner to disrupt the clearing attempt that was kept in by Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Kotkaniemi got the puck back to Carrier, and he used his strength against the defender to settle the puck and get it to Jankowski alone in the slot.
A few minutes later, a heads-up pass by Frederik Andersen puts the puck near the opposite blue line. Sebastian Aho’s relentless pursuit causes the Capitals’ defender to fan on the outlet pass, and Aho picks it up and buries it for the 2-0 lead.
Carolina ended the first with a 2-0 lead despite a 19-12 shot advantage by Washington. For much of the period, Andersen was the Canes’ best player.
The Hurricanes had a better start to the second. About four minutes into the period, Jordan Staal created a turnover in the neutral zone and put the Canes on the attack. Jordan Martinook pulled up at the half boards and hit Shayne Gostisbehere with a cross-zone pass. As he was streaking down the wing, a double screen by the Washington defenders allowed his wrister to find the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.
Just three and a half minutes later, Washington tallied their first goal of the game. The Canes won the faceoff, but failed to clear the puck. Hendrix Lapierre was left alone in front of Andersen and poked home a second chance opportunity to make it 3-1.
The action got sloppy in the middle part of the second, starting with a questionable interference call on Hall.
The Capitals’ man-advantage did not last long as a Hurricanes shorthanded rush forced Ryan Leonard to interfere with Aho, and the teams were four-on-four.
Just 30 seconds later, Logan Stankoven drew an interference penalty that led to a four-on-three for 28 seconds and then a five-on-three for just over a minute.
Unfortunately, the Carolina power play was a bit slow to develop, and with blocks and wide shots, could not get a shot on goal during these prime opportunities.
Soon after these failed power plays, another failed clear led to another Washington goal that cut the lead to 3-2.
Hall took his third penalty of the night on a delay of game call with 1:33 left in the second, and the Capitals rode that momentum into the third.
A Sean Walker penalty just two minutes into the third allowed Washington to stay on the attack. The Hurricanes killed all four Capitals power plays in the game, but the offensive zone time helped to keep the ice tiled in their favor in the third.
An unfortunate sequence of events led to the game-tying goal with about seven minutes left in the game. Tom Wilson’s elbow took a run at Stankoven’s head, cutting his cheek on the play. The dirty play and no call, interference or otherwise, made Stankoven mad and caused him to chase the play at the other end, looking for bodies. That led to the game-tying goal from Jakob Chychrun alone in the high slot.
Andersen kept the Hurricanes in the game, and the team secured a point by advancing to overtime. The Hurricanes did not produce much in the extra frame, and the Capitals scored just 1:42 into overtime.
The Hurricanes return home to Raleigh for a game versus Los Angeles tomorrow at 3:00 PM at the Lenovo Center.
