Caps Stifle Canes, 4-1

For the first time in 11 years, the Caps and the Carolina Hurricanes played a late-season game that held postseason implications for both clubs on Tuesday night in Washington. It wasn't a thrilling affair, but the Caps put together a defensively detailed performance that enabled them to skate away with a 4-1 win and two important standings points.

Carolina is averaging 3.45 goals per game since the turn of the calendar, second only to the offensive juggernaut known as the Tampa Bay Lightning (3.65) over that span. But the Caps put together a detailed defensive effort that stifled the Hurricanes' attack.
"I thought it was a strong team game for us," says Caps coach Todd Reirden, "one of our better ones overall in terms of getting everybody's committed game defensively, especially. Then when we got our chances, our top guys were able to convert, and that's always a nice advantage to have."

On the night in which his "bird celly" was immortalized in bobble head form and given away to fans entering the big barn on F St., Evgeny Kuznetsov had a three-assist night and centered the line - along with Carl Hagelin and T.J. Oshie - that neutralized top Carolina threat Sebastian Aho, ending Aho's run of five straight games with a goal against Washington.
"I think my both linies - Osh and Hags - pressure pretty good," says Kuznetsov. "And we killed a lot of their plays in their zone. If you're a player like Aho, you always want to have the puck, you always want to create something offensive. But it's pretty hard to create when the other team forces you to defend."
The first period was a bit of a snooze fest, but the Caps were able to take a 1-0 lead late in the frame.

Washington lost a draw in Carolina ice, but Hagelin shook the puck loose from the Canes' grasp, and he and Oshie worked together to get it to Kuznetsov along the right wing wall. Kuznetsov cut toward the cage from there, protecting the puck through traffic and then dishing a perfect backhand feed through a tight lane to Oshie on the weak side, at the bottom of the left circle. From there, Oshie cranked a one-timer past Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek as the Caps scored the game's first goal for the ninth time in 11 games at 16:29.
The Caps nursed that lead to the latter stages of the second before Carolina drew even. The scoresheet shows the Caps played a penalty-free game, but Christian Djoos held Aho behind the Washington net, causing on of the referees to raise his arm. With Mrazek on the bench for an extra attacker during the delayed penalty call, Dougie Hamilton's shot through traffic found its way past Braden Holtby, knotting the game at 1-1 at 15:38 of the middle period.
Washington regained the lead early in the third on a rush goal, with Kuznetsov briefly centering for Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin. John Carlson sent Kuznetsov out of the Caps' zone with a sharp breakout feed, and Kuznetsov passed to Wilson at the Carolina line. Wilson carried down low on the right wing wall before putting a pass to a trailing Ovechkin in the high slot. The Caps' captain wound up and crushed a shot past Mrazek to make it a 2-1 game at 4:31 of the third.

Just after the middle of the third, the Caps picked up a big insurance tally on a read and react play. Kuznetsov carried up high on the right side, so Carlson went low and parked just off the right post. From center point, Dmitry Orlov issued a perfect slap pass to Carlson, who was able to easily dunk it on Mrazek, who had lost his stick. Carlson's goal made it 3-1 at 11:16.
Washington kept the Canes in check the rest of the way, and Nicklas Backstrom accounted for the 4-1 final with an empty-net goal at 17:33.
"They were good, we were not," assesses Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Put those two together, and we really had no chance in that game. That's what it felt like the whole way. We never got to our game. I give them credit; they played a tight checking game and they too advantage of their opportunities when we just took a breath in the [defensive] zone, and they're too good for that."