The Washington Capitals met the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night for the two teams’ first of two games within the next eight days.
Sean Walker opened the scoring, converting on a bad Jakob Chychrun turnover. Jackson Blake and Seth Jarvis doubled up on power-play goals to give the Hurricanes a three-goal lead after 20 minutes.
Logan Stankoven added to Carolina’s lead in the second before Alex Ovechkin scored the 892nd goal of his career to get the Capitals on the board. Blake scored his second early in the third.
Hurricanes beat Capitals 5-1.
- Not much good to say about the opening frame. The Hurricanes blitzed the Capitals like they do every team in the league. Carolina is absolutely relentless, and playing them in the second half of a back-to-back must be all kinds of not fun. Still, a lot of their offense was coming from bad individual mistakes from the Caps, and that’s been a trend recently.
- The decision to play Ryan Leonard in back-to-back games looks like a good one, considering he seemed to be the only Capitals player going in the correct direction in the first period. While that is very impressive for a 20-year-old rookie playing in just his second career game, it’s equal parts embarrassing for the rest of the team.
- Am I going crazy, or does it seem like the NHL schedules the Capitals to play the Hurricanes on no rest nearly every other game they play against each other? It legitimately feels like we are always talking about a tired Caps team traveling to Carolina after playing the night before.
- The Capitals played much better in the second period. Unfortunately, going down three goals in the first is just going to make it a tough road against any team, let alone one as good as the Hurricanes. Really good to see them respond. I just wish they wouldn’t have to respond.
- Logan Thompson lasted just one period, allowing three goals on 12 shots. He did not take the crease for the second, being replaced by Charlie Lindgren. The Capitals say Thompson suffered an upper-body injury.
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 892nd career goal 19:25 into the second period with the Capitals on a five-on-three man advantage. He is just two goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goals record and three goals from taking sole possession. Ovi now has 39 goals in 59 games this season, a 54-goal pace over a full 82-game schedule.
- Anthony Beauvillier played just 4:28 of ice time through two periods. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes out of the lineup for Taylor Raddysh back in DC.
- The Capitals were very frustrated with the Hurricanes and the referees in the third. The officials took every opportunity they could to give the Caps an extra minor penalty. Tom Wilson, Brandon Duhaime, Nic Dowd, and Connor McMichael all received early showers for their part in some of the ensuing rough festivities. Again, these two teams play again next week.
- Really not a fan of that takedown from Jalen Chatfield on McMichael. Don’t drop the gloves and then do that.
- The penalty kill absolutely fell apart. Carolina put three power-play goals on the board with their six opportunities.
- Gary Bettman was at the game. Probably there to watch Ovi during this chase but also to make sure the Capitals get scheduled to play the Hurricanes on no rest every single game for the rest of eternity.
The Capitals will now come home for a date with Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4. We’re on super Alex Ovechkin watch now.
