The Carolina Hurricanes started their three-game road trip on Friday, Dec. 20, in the nation’s capital, where they faced the Washington Capitals, a Metropolitan Division foe. They were looking to extend their winning streak to three games after shutting out the New York Islanders 4-0 on Tuesday, Dec. 17. However, the Capitals had a different idea as they defeated the Hurricanes 3-1 to get back in the win column and snap the visitor’s winning streak. What happened in the game to get to where we are now?
Game Recap
For the most part, it was a goalie duel between two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. It was a hard-fought battle between Carlie Lindgren of the Capitals and Pyotr Kochetkov of the Hurricanes. The first period saw both goalies make 10-bell after 10-bell saves with the home team outshooting the visitors 10-6 in the first 20 minutes of the game. At first, it seemed like the game would go scoreless into the first intermission, but with under a minute left, Aliaskei Protas figured out Kochetkov for his 12th goal of the season. In the blink of an eye, it was looking to be scoreless after one period to being a 1-0 Capitals lead.
Related: Hurricanes’ Pyotr Kochetkov Shuts Out Islanders 4-0
It was one of those goals where there was nothing Kochetkov could do with Protas tipping an initial show from Andrew Mangiapane. Despite being down 1-0 and outshot, the Hurricanes looked like the better team outside of that one chance for the Capitals. Entering the second, they looked to even the game back up. However, a costly soft goal by Kochetkov gave Jakub Vrana his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-0 late into the middle frame. Once again, the second period burned Carolina with under a minute left into the middle frame, Connor McMichael scored his 16th of the season to make it 3-0.
It was another costly late goal that gave the Hurricanes a mountain to come back from instead of being one or two goals down. Now they had a Herculean effort to get back into the game.
The Hurricanes were able to get back within two goals as Seth Jarvis was able to finally figure out Lindgren and beat him short-side with a brilliant snipe to make it a 3-1 game and snap the shutout. It was his ninth goal of the season and the lone one in the contest for Carolina. The Capitals almost made it 4-1, but John Carlson made contact with Kochetkov in the crease for goaltender interference to get the goal called back.
In the end, the 3-0 lead going into the third period was too much for the Hurricanes as they ended up losing their 11th game of the season and the Capitals getting their 22nd win. It is clear why both teams are where they are in the standings, especially Washington who is higher than where people thought they would be. Despite outshooting the home side 26-22, the Capitals had 27 blocked shots, which is huge indicato why they were able to limit the Hurricanes to one goal.
Who’s Coming Up Next?
It’s a quick turnaround for the Hurricanes (20-11-1) as they take on the New York Rangers for their fourth straight division game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Dec. 22. It’s an early afternoon matchup as puck drop will be at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. The Capitals (22-8-2) host the Los Angeles Kings for a 5 p.m. Eastern puck drop. The Hurricanes and Capitals face each other two more times this season on April 2 and April 10.
