Hurricanes Rally To Down Capitals, 4-2; Alex Ovechkin Scores Twice


Photo: X/@Capitals

The Washington Capitals gave up a 2-o lead and fell to the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2 Friday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The loss drops the Capitals record to 36-30-10 (82 points) on the season. The Capitals have now lost five straight games.

Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring less than four minutes into the opening stanza with his 850th career goal. Ovechkin added his 29th goal of the season with less than a minute to play in the period to make it 2-0 at the first intermission, even though the Hurricanes led in five-on-five shot attempts, 26-9 after 20 minutes of play.

Jake Guentzel got the Canes on the board with his 26th goal of the season at 14:30 of the middle frame for a 2-1 Capitals lead at the second break. The Hurricanes led in five-on-five shot attempts a staggering 53-16 after two periods of play.

The Hurricanes tied the game a little over midway through the final frame on a power play goal from Martin Necas and took their first lead of the night with a power play goal from Sebastian Aho with less than two minutes left in regulation. The Canes added an empty net goal from Jake Guentzel for the 4-2 win. The Hurricanes led in five-on-five shot attempts, 73-26 for the game.

LINEUP

Darcy Kuemper (13-13-3, 3.32 GAA, .888 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Pyotr Kochetkov (20-13-4, 2.42 GAA, .902 sv%) got the start in goal for the Hurricanes. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Mike Sgarbossa —Connor McMichael — Aliaksei Protas
Max Pacioretty — Hendrix Lapierre — Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Ivan Miroshnichenko

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

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: Forward T.J. Oshie (injury – undisclosed), forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, defenseman Vinny Iorio, forward Matthew Phillips, goaltender Hunter Shepard, defenseman Ethan Bear (NHLPA players assistance program) and forward Nicklas Backstrom (hip).

1ST PERIOD

The Capitals opened the scoring early in the first frame on a rebound tally by Alex Ovechkin (28) at 3:31 of the opening stanza. Dylan Strome (37) and Trevor van Riemadyk (12) had the helpers. It was Ovechkin’s 850th goal of his career.

The Capitals made it 2-0 with less than a minute to play in the period on Alex Ovechkin’s (29) second goal of the game. John Carlson (40) and Dylan Strome (38) had the assists.

The Capitals held the 2-0 lead into the first intermission. The Hurricanes led in five-on-five shot attempts, 25-9 in the first 20 minutes.

2ND PERIOD

Jake Guentzel got the Canes on the board with his 26th goal of the season at 14:30 of the middle frame.

And that was it for the second period. The Canes led in five-on-five shot attempts 53-16 after two periods of play.

3RD PERIOD

Martin Necas tied the game on the power play with 8:20 left in the final frame.

The Hurricanes took their first lead of the night with a power play goal from Sebastian Aho at 18:09 to make it 3-2.

The Canes added an empty net goal from Jake Guentzel for the 4-2 final. The Hurricanes led in five-on-five shot attempts, 73-26 for the game.

SHAVINGS (From Capitals PR)

  • Ovechkin (49g-54a–103p in 90 GP) is the leading point scorer against the Hurricanes among active players.
  • Ovechkin is now two goals shy of his 18th career 30-goal season. Should he reach the 30-goal mark, Ovechkin would pass former Capital Mike Gartner for the most 30-goal seasons in NHL history.
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk earned the secondary assist on Ovechkin’s goal. It marks van Riemsdyk’s 100th career assist. Forty-six of van Riemsdyk’s 100 career assists have come with Washington.
  • With his game-opening goal tonight against Carolina, Alex Ovechkin has become the only player in NHL history to score 850 goals with one franchise. Ovechkin has now scored 20 goals in his last 30 games.

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.





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