Capitals Defeat Hurricanes, 7-6 (SO); Milano Scores First Career Hat Trick, Ovechkin Passes Joe Thornton for 13th-Most Points in NHL History; Kuznetsov Returns to D.C.


Photo: @Capitals/X

The Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 7-6 in a shootout Friday at Capital One Arena. The win improved the Capitals’ record to 34-26-9 and 77 points on the season. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves in the first two periods before Charlie Lindgren made seven remaining saves in the victory.

The Lineup

Alex Ovechkin — Connor McMichael — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Sonny Milano — Dylan Strome — Ivan Miroshnichenko
Max Pacioretty — Hendrix Lapierre — Matthew Phillips
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Michael Sgarbossa

Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev  — Trevor van Riemsdyk

Kuemper
Lindgren

Scratches: Defenseman Ethan Bear and right-wing Tom Wilson (six-game suspension)

Injuries: Right-wing T.J. Oshie (upper body), left-wing Aliaksei Protas (lower body), and center Nicklas Backstrom (hip)

First Period

The Hurricanes would tally first with a goal from center Sebastian Aho at the 6:53 mark.

During the first TV timeout, the Capitals welcomed back former center Evgeny Kuznetsov with an emotional tribute video.

The Capitals would tie it up at one-a-piece with a power-play goal from Milano (11) at the 12:45 mark. McMichael (14) had the lone assist.

Defenseman Jaccob Slavin would give Carolina the lead again, 2-1, with less than a minute left.

Quick Stats

SOG: 10-4 Hurricanes

Face-Off Win %: 50%-50%

Hits: 13-8 Capitals

Second Period

Ovechkin (24) would tie it for the Capitals, 2-2, on another power play opportunity with six minutes to go. Strome (32) and Miroshnichenko (3) assisted.

Forty seconds later, the Capitals would take the lead with Milano’s second goal of the game and twelfth of the season. Strome (33) had the helper.

With 4:37 left, the Hurricanes would equalize with Aho’s second goal of the night.

Defenseman Brady Skjei’s goal would give the Hurricanes a 4-3 lead with five seconds left.

Quick Stats

Total SOG: 22-13 Hurricanes

Face-Off Win %: 52% (Capitals), 48% (Hurricanes)

Total Hits: 19-9 Capitals

Third Period

Lindgren started between the pipes for the final frame.

The Capitals would once again tie the game, 4-4, thanks to Carlson’s (6) power-play goal at the 3:45 mark. The assists went to Lapierre (8) and Ovechkin (32).

Milano (13) would score his first career hat trick at the 8:19 mark. Sandin (20) and Strome (34) assisted.

But the Hurricanes would tie it five-a-piece at the 9:35 mark with center Seth Jarvis’s goal.

McMichael (16) would give the Capitals a 6-5 lead with just over six minutes to go. van Riemsdyk (11) and Miroshnichenko (4) picked up the assists.

The Hurricanes would equalize, 6-6, with over two minutes left as Aho completed a hat trick of his own.

Quick Stats

Total SOG: 29-23 Hurricanes

Face-Off Win %: 55% (Capitals), 44% (Hurricanes)

Total Hits: 29-16 Capitals

Overtime & Shootout

Neither team could convert during overtime. The Capitals would win it thanks to Strome, who scored his first career shootout goal for a 7-6 final score.

Notes Through the Game

  • Milano has scored seven goals in his last 15 games.
  • Milano’s 0.29 goals-per-game rate this season is the highest of his career.
  • Milano has scored 11 goals on 38 shots (28.9 S%) through 38 games played this season. Milano’s 28.9 shooting percentage ranks first in the NHL among skaters with at least ten goals.
  • McMichael has registered five points (3g, 2a) in his last six games.
  • Ovechkin extends his goal streak to four games (6g). He has scored 16 goals in his last 23 games.
  • Ovechkin’s power-play goal marks his first career goal against Pyotr Kochetkov, the 175th different goaltender he has scored on in his career. Only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177) have scored on more goaltenders in NHL history.
  • Kochetkov marks the sixth new goaltender Ovechkin has scored on this season, joining Joseph Woll (10/24/23 vs. TOR), Yaroslav Askarov (12/30/23 vs. NSH), Alex Nedeljkovic (1/2/24 at PIT), Samuel Ersson (3/1/24 vs. PHI) and Dustin Wolf (3/18/24 at CGY).
  • Ovechkin recorded his 1,540th NHL point (846 goals, 694 assists in 1,413 games), moving him past Joe Thornton (1,539 points in 1,714 games) for 13th place in NHL history.
  • Milano registered his sixth career multi-goal game.
  • Strome extends his point streak to three games (1g-4a-5p). He has now tallied 21 assists in his last 22 games.
  • Twenty-seven of Strome’s 33 assists this season are primaries, which leads Washington.
  • Miroshnichenko has registered five points (2g, 3a) in his last nine games.
  • Miroshnichenko is the 117th different player to record an assist on an Ovechkin goal.
  • Tonight marked the Capitals’ first game with three or more power-play goals since Nov. 7, 2022, vs. Edmonton (4 PPGs).
  • Since Feb. 8, the Capitals have converted on 23 of 65 power-play opportunities (35.4%), the highest power-play percentage in the NHL in that span.
  • The Capitals have scored multiple power-play goals in five of their last 14 games.
  • Lapierre picked up his first career power-play point.
  • Ovechkin has now recorded three straight multi-point games and has tallied seven points (6g, 1a) over his last four games.
  • Sandin has tallied an assist in three straight games.
  • McMichael has scored four goals in his last six games.
  • van Riemsdyk is now one assist shy of 100 career assists.
  • With two assists tonight, Miroshnichenko has recorded his first career multi-point game.

The Capitals continue their four-game homestand, hosting the Winnipeg Jets at Capital One Arena on Sunday. Monumental Sports Network and NHL Network will have the coverage beginning at 12:30 PM ET.

By Della Young

About Della Young

Della Young is an aspiring novelist and screenwriter who earned a BFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University in 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Screenwriting from Regent University and is writing her debut novel. Della comes from a family of big Capitals fans and became inspired to start writing for hockey in 2019. Follow Della on X: @dellayoung





Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR