All Tied Up! Capitals Hold Off Hurricanes In 3-1 Game 2 Win, Series Even at 1-1


@Capitals/X

The Washington Capitals downed the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1,  Thursday night at Capital One Arena. With the win, the series is tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven series.

The Capitals and ‘Canes were scoreless through the first twenty minutes before Connor McMichael scored his fourth goal of the postseason less than three minutes into the second period. John Carlson added a power play goal early in the third period, which was answered nearly halfway through the frame by Shayne Gostisbehere on a power play of Carolina’s own. Tom Wilson added an empty-net goal to secure the victory for Washington. The Hurricanes outshot Washington 29-21, while both clubs scored on one of their three power play opportunities.

LINEUP

Logan Thompson (4-2-0, 2.17 GAA, .926 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals in Game 2. Frederik Andersen (4-1-0, 1.45 GAA, .935 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Hurricanes. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome —Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Aliaksei Protas

Jakob Chychrun — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratches: Taylor Raddysh, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Ethan Frank, Mitchell Gibson.

Injured: Martin Fehervry (undisclosed), Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).

1ST PERIOD

The Capitals and Hurricanes ended the first period with one power play opportunity granted apiece (the Caps’ PP extending into the second) and neither able to beat the opposing netminder. The ‘Canes largely outplayed Washington for much of the first twenty, outshooting Spencer Carbery’s team by a 7-5 margin (and over 22 shot attempts).

2ND PERIOD

Despite their continuing power play ending without a goal, Connor McMichael lifted the Caps to their first lead of the night just over two minutes in, scoring his fourth of the postseason at 2:16.

The Capitals and Hurricanes ended the middle frame with the Caps still up by one and leading in shots 16-11, having outshot Carolina by a 11-4 margin in the middle twenty.

3RD PERIOD

John Carlson padded the home team’s lead on the power play, scoring his first of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs on assists from Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome.

Shayne Gostisbehere cut Washington’s lead in half at 9:26, scoring his second of the postseason on a power play to make it 2-1; Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho recorded the assists.

Tom Wilson added an empty-net goal for his third goal of the playoffs to secure the victory for the Capitals. Logan Thompson stopped 28 of 29 shots (.965 Save Percentage) in the victory.

ICE SHAVINGS

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR