Caps Fall 3-2 in Shootout

For the first time this season, the Caps needed more than 60 minutes to settle the score on Monday night in Carolina. Although they would have liked to have had a late and legitimate chance to win Monday's game, the Caps have to settle for a single point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Hurricanes.

Washington battled hard to get through the 60 minutes of regulation all even, killing off a slew of penalties, including one in the final two minutes of regulation. The Caps then had to kill another one in overtime, and those two calls followed two stretches of 4-on-4 hockey in the third period in which officials elected to call embellishment minors, once on each side.
"I thought the guys played hard," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I think it was frustrating that once you get through that first period and you sustain a little bit, you're down 1-0 and you battle back in the game. And it gets to the end of the game, and we didn't set ourselves up for success with the penalties and the penalty in overtime. It came right at the end of the game, that's a chance where maybe you can win it. And you get to the overtime, and it's 3-on-3, and we had to kill two minutes inside of that, too.
"It was tough. It didn't set up the way you want it to, and it ended up going to a shootout and we didn't win the shootout, so in that regard losing the point is tough, but I thought our guys played hard tonight."
In spending four of the game's final seven minutes shorthanded, the Caps were never able to muster much of a push toward notching the game-winning goal themselves. But they can thank goalie Darcy Kuemper and a staunch penalty-killing outfit for enabling them to take home a point from this one.
"I think he was our best player," says Caps center Lars Eller of Kuemper. "He was crucial for us today, one of his best games for sure. And he was our best penalty killer as well, and a really good game from them today, too."
The Caps had a pair of first-period power plays to one for Carolina, but it was the Canes that took advantage and took an early lead on their man advantage opportunity. Carolina's Brent Burns put a shot to the net from the left point, and Stefan Noesen tipped it past Kuemper for a 1-0 Carolina lead at 4:27 of the first frame.
Washington's two extra-man chances produced one shot on net, half the number of shots the Canes had during those four minutes. Kuemper had to make an excellent stop on Sebastian Aho's shorthanded breakaway bid to keep the Caps within a goal of their hosts.
Early in the second, the Caps pulled even. Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen stopped Nick Jensen's shot from the left point, but Dylan Strome chipped the rebound to shelf from the top of the paint to make it a 1-1 game at 1:23 of the second.
"I saw [Conor Sheary] made a good drop pass to Jens," says Strome, "and then he made a nice move and I was kind of alone in front with Aho there, tipped it a bit and it was just sitting there. so it got us back into the game and tied it up. Big goal at the time."
The middle frame was a reversal of the first in terms of special teams, as the Caps went shorthanded three times and Carolina just once, but it was the Caps that cashed in on their lone opportunity to take the lead. From center point, Erik Gustafsson put it on a tee for the captain, and Alex Ovechkin cranked home a one-timer from his left dot office on the power play at 8:57, giving the Caps their first lead of the game.
Late in the second period, the Hurricanes squared the score when Andrei Svechnikov scored from just off the weak side post on a rebound, putting back a Paul Stastny shot to make it a 2-2 contest at 15:42.
The third period was mostly a festival of whistles, with a total of seven minor penalties called over the final frame plus overtime. Washington had enough difficulty getting established in Carolina ice at even strength; Carolina's swarming forecheck forced the Caps to play more in their end than they would have liked.
Late in the third, Kuemper was at his best, first thwarting Jesper Fast from the slot with just over three minutes remaining and then making four stops - all of them from inside of 20 feet away - in the final two minutes while the Canes were on the power play. This was a night where Kuemper and the penalty kill can be directly credited for pulling the point.
"I think we did a really good job," says Kuemper of the penalty kill. "They scored on their first opportunity, which is sometimes tough for the guys. But we dug in. We probably had a few more kills than we wanted to, but we killed them off, and that was huge tonight."
Washington was held to just 20 shots on the night, but the Caps defended hard and they defended well in their own end, limiting the Canes to just one goal at 5-on-5.
"I think we just had to fight," says Eller. "We had to fight in our own end, just to win battles and be on the right side. A lot of tired legs out there when you're in there for 45 seconds or a minute. You've just got to fight to get it out sometimes, and it's whatever's in front of you. You've got to win those battles.
"We want to play more in the offensive zone. We'll look at it and we'll learn, and I'm sure there's some things we can correct, no doubt."