Caps Clip Canes to Clinch Playoff Berth

There was never much doubt in the District, but it's official now. The Washington Capitals are headed to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons. The Caps clinched their 2019 berth on Thursday night, downing the Hurricanes in Carolina, 3-2.

Thursday's win was the Caps' third straight, and they had to come from behind to do it. Carolina took a 2-1 lead into the third, but Jakub Vrana scored early in the final frame to tie the game, and Nic Dowd authored the game-winner late, racing to the net to tip home a right point shot from Nick Jensen.

"I really liked that one," says Caps coach Todd Reirden, "because you're down 2-1 on the road, you get depth scoring and our guys didn't quit. It wasn't a perfect game by any means, but we stuck with it and that's how we have had success in the past, this group has, in playoff hockey.
"That's what it's going to take; it's going to take big goals, big plays, big blocks and then great goaltending, and we had that tonight."
Shortly after Vrana rang a shot off the crossbar on his first shift of the game, Carolina scored the game's first goal, doing so before the contest was five minutes old. The Canes' top forward trio manufactured the goal, Sebastian Aho and Justin Williams combining to find Nino Niederreiter all alone on the weak side. Niederreiter kicked it to his stick blade and then ran out of room, but he managed to lure Caps goalie Braden Holtby well away from the crease, and the Carolina winger scored from a prone position behind the net, hooking the puck with his stick and pulling it over the line at 4:31 of the first.

A mere 42 seconds later, the Caps answered back. Brooks Orpik banged the puck off the window in Washington ice, and it rolled out to neutral ice where Brett Connolly collected it and skated in on the right side in a two-on-one situation. He had Vrana on his left, but Connolly got lone Carolina defender Trevor van Riemsdyk to leave his feet. That gave Connolly the opportunity to pull the puck to the slot and fire a laser to the shelf, beating Curtis McElhinney at 5:13 of the first.
In the second, the Caps got a big early stop from Holtby, who showed great anticipation in thwarting a Niederreiter attempt from the top of the paint, a chance that came off a feed from then half wall.

Midway through the middle period, the Caps hit a rough patch. They got hemmed in their end for a couple of minutes, a shift during which Carolina was able to make a full personnel change. Washington was finally able to get a clear and a change, but the Canes' fourth line regrouped and came right back at the Caps' top unit.
Warren Foegele worked his way around Jensen and went to the net, beating a Holtby pokecheck and then beating Holtby to put the Canes back on top at 12:30 of the second.
The Caps couldn't get anything going on their lone power play chance of the night late in the second, and Dmitry Orlov rang the crossbar just after the extra-man opportunity expired.

In the third, the Caps tied the game on a couple of sharp passes and a patented speed burst from Vrana, going 200 feet to tie the game. Christian Djoos made an excellent breakout pass from behind the Washington net, sending Evgeny Kuznetsov into neutral ice. Kuznetsov then sent Vrana into Carolina ice in stride, and the Washington winger turned on the jets and got behind the defense. He cut to the middle and slipped the puck through the five-hole, tying the game at 2-2 at 1:35 of the third.
With just under five minutes left, Dowd scored the game-winner. Aho won the puck from Dowd in the left wing corner and rimmed the puck, but Jensen kept it in at the right point. Meanwhile, Dowd beat Aho to the net, got a piece of Jensen's shot and deflected it past McElhinney for a 3-2 Washington lead with 4:56 left.
It was a textbook example of the value of going hard to the net.

"Going to the net, that's all I can really say about it," says Dowd. "It wasn't pretty, and I didn't even know it went in. I just got there, and the puck happened to find good timing, I guess. Jens getting it to the net was a good play."
Washington killed off the only Carolina power play of the night seconds later, and Holtby was at his best once the Caps staked him to that lead. He stopped Aho and Neiderreiter late from close range to seal the deal, nailing down his 30th win of the season and a playoff berth for the Capitals.
The victory was Washington's fourth in as many games against Carolina this season, and the Caps' second this week over the Canes. The Caps took a 4-1 decision from Carolina in the District on Tuesday, and they have handed the Hurricanes their first set of consecutive losses in regulation since Jan. 15-16.
"I thought it was a great game by us," says Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour, "a little better than two nights previous, and we were certainly invested and everyone played hard. It just didn't go our way."