Through the first 50 minutes of Game 1 at Capital One Arena, the Carolina Hurricanes’ game plan looked like it would fall short. The Washington Capitals scored first and looked secure in a win behind a determined defensive effort. But Logan Stankoven tied the game midway through the third period to send the series opener into overtime before Jaccob Slavin sent the crowd home disappointed following a quick game-winner to claim a 2-1 win in Game 1.
Game Recap
The Hurricanes dominated the first 20 minutes of the contest but could not score against Capitals goalie Logan Thompson in a scoreless first period. Carolina was credited with 12 shots on goal but fired 37 shot attempts towards the Washington net, including one puck that drew red iron before ricocheting harmlessly towards the boards. The Hurricanes brought hefty pressure and a persistent forecheck into their road matchup, which put the hometown Capitals on the back skate early in the first period.
Washington weathered the early storm by standing tall and blocking 15 shots in front of Thompson. Capitals forward Brandon Duhaime led the team with four blocks in the period, helped by a 49-second stint on the penalty kill. Matt Roy (three blocks) and Jakob Chychryn (two) led the blue line effort, which saw the majority of Capitals defensemen pick up a blocked shot in the first period. It was a physical first period as the Capitals and Hurricanes fought for space on the frozen floor. Washington totaled 13 hits, while Carolina picked up 15 body checks for a combined total of 28 hits between the Metropolitan Division rivals.
The game was equally physical in the middle frame. Carolina crunched 17 more bodies, while Washington collected 12 body checks. The Hurricanes continued to dominate puck possession, but struggled to find daylight through 10 more blocked shots from Washington in the second period, in addition to several pucks that collided with the Hurricanes attempting to set the screen in front of Thompson.
Washington struck first on the scoreboard on Aliaksei Protas’ first career postseason goal in the NHL. Protas pushed a puck out of the feet of Duhaime at the defensive blue line, rushed down the right wall, and fired a low shot from outside the faceoff circle that slipped above Frederik Andersen’s left pad and into the bottom left corner of the net for a 1-0 Capitals lead at 3:53 of the second period.
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A defensive battle unfolded in the middle frame. Thompson stopped all eight shots sent through the wall of Capitals defenders. The focus needed to thwart Carolina’s attack didn’t leave much room for Washington to generate offense to add to their lead. They finished with six shots in the period.
The third period featured more of the same as the Hurricanes pushed to tie the game. First, they had to kill off an early Jackson Blake high-sticking minor less than a minute into the third period. That power play ended with an undisciplined slash from Alex Ovechkin at 2:28, but Carolina could not find the tying goal on the resulting time-shortened man advantage.
The Hurricanes kept the pressure on and buried the game-tying goal minutes later. With 10:21 remaining in the game, Washington fumbled a defensive zone breakout attempt as Lars Eller put a pass through the skates of teammate Alexander Alexeev, resulting in an offensive zone turnover. Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi jumped on the loose puck and directed it over to Logan Stankoven, who snapped a shot past Thompson’s outstretched glove to tie the game at one. It was Carolina’s 27th shot on goal.
With neither team able to find a winner in the remaining 10 minutes of regulation, Game 1 at Capital One Arena went into overtime. It took only 3:06 of bonus hockey to find a winner as Carolina’s game plan again proved successful. The Hurricanes first cycled the puck around the boards from left to right, looking for an open shot option. Dmitry Orlov didn’t like his look, so he cycled the puck back down low for Jordan Martinook below the goal line. He sent a bank pass to Slavin with some open space at the right point. With plenty of traffic in front of the net, the Hurricanes’ blueliner fired a low shot that slipped under the right pad of Washington’s netminder for the game-winning goal in a 2-1 Carolina win.
The Hurricanes dominated the contest from the puck drop and held a 33-14 shot advantage over the Capitals in Game 1. Spencer Carbery and his coaching staff will now have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to generate an offensive attack while trying to slow down a relentless Carolina attack. Game 2 is on Thursday night at the same venue in Washington, D.C.
