Driven, determined and detailed; that describes the Capitals’ Tuesday night performance in a building that has been problematic for them in recent seasons, Raleigh’s Lenovo Center. From opening puck drop, the Caps more than held their own against one of the League’s top teams, and they leave Carolina with a convincing 4-1 victory.
Despite winning just one of their previous seven games (1-5-1), the Caps have played well over that span, but with mostly some solid numbers and little else to show for it. That all changed on Tuesday with one of Washington’s most indomitable 60-minute efforts of the season, and its first win in three games on this road trip.
Logan Thompson made 30 saves to pick up his seventh win of the season, but he had help from every guy in a white sweater on Tuesday. Washington won the special teams battle and outscored the Canes at 5-on-5 as well. The Caps scored before the first television timeout in each period, and Alex Ovechkin’s casual, long distance empty-net marker sealed the deal at night’s end.
“The first period was excellent,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought it was the way that you need to start in this building, as challenging as it is, we needed to get on our front foot and be the aggressor early on and not sit back, which can cause a bunch of issues in this building.
“The start was excellent, special teams were phenomenal tonight. The power play looked as good as it has all year long. Even without the goal, I thought it was really sharp in all areas.”
For the second time in as many games on the road trip, Brandon Duhaime got the scoring started before the first television timeout of the first frame. And as was the case on Saturday night in Tampa, Duhaime did so with help from both of his linemates, with all three reading off each other.
Nic Dowd won a puck battle below the goal line in Carolina ice, pulling it out on the left side and dishing to Ethen Frank in the left circle. Frank carried toward the slot while selling the idea of a shot, as Duhaime stealthily came out by the back post on the weak side. Frank put a backhand feed to him, and Duhaime buried it for a 1-0 Washington lead at 5:42 of the first.
“Definitely good chemistry,” says Duhaime. “I think that starts in practice for us, and the more touches we’ll get, the more comfortable we’ll get with each other.”
Things got a bit chippy in the back half of the first when Nic Dowd bumped Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen, who had come out of his crease to play the puck behind the net. Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary had Carolina’s Justin Blake by the sweater when Canes teammate Logan Stankoven stepped in and intervened, taking a series of punches and heading off for repairs.
Washington had a pair of first-period power plays that bore no fruit, as did the Hurricanes. On the first of those Carolina power play opportunities, Thompson made his best stop of the period on Seth Jarvis’ bid on a back door timing play.
In the opening seconds of the middle period, the Caps needed Thompson to make another big stop. Shayne Gostisbehere wired the puck into Washington ice off the opening face-off, and the puck took a bad bounce for the Caps, resulting in a Jordan Staal 1-on-1 situation, and again Thompson shut it down.
Again, the Caps scored ahead of the first television timeout of the period. John Carlson denied a Sebastian Aho entry at the Washington line, pushing the puck up the wall for Alex Ovechkin at the Carolina line. Ovechkin headmanned to Dylan Strome, who beat Andersen on a short-ice breakaway at 5:59, doubling the Washington lead.
Less than a minute after the Strome goal, Thompson preserved the two-goal advantage with an excellent stop on Nikolaj Ehlers’ tip-in try from in tight.
In the back half of the second, the Canes got on the board in transition. Caps defenders Jakob Chychrun and Declan Chisholm collided in the high slot, with the latter briefly losing his footing. In the ensuing chaos, Ehlers shelved a shot to make it a 2-1 contest at 13:56.
Despite not converting on their early power plays, the Caps’ extra-man unit looked more dangerous than it recently has, and in the third period, it finally broke through. Andersen made a stellar stop to rob Tom Wilson from the slot, and less than a minute later, he did the same to Ryan Leonard. This time however, Chychrun was right there to pounce on and pot the rebound, restoring the Caps’ two-goal lead at 5:46.
“We’ve got a few games now together as a unit,” says Chychrun. “[We’re] starting to make reads off one another, support one another and just execute a little bit better through the through neutral zone, and find ways to get into our setup. And they're obviously a very aggressive PK, and we were able to make a play when we needed to, and got a few really good looks.”
The goal was the 100th of Chychrun’s NHL career.
Andersen departed the game with an injury with 5:10 remaining, yielding the crease to Pyotr Kochetkov. After the game, Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour confirmed Andersen had been pulled by a concussion spotter.
Thompson kept the door closed the rest of the way, getting a major assist from Connor McMichael, who managed to sweep a wobbling puck off the goal line and out of harm’s way less than two minutes after Chychrun’s tally.
“It was nice,” says Thompson. “Obviously, if it wasn’t for him, who knows what could happen? That was probably the biggest save of the night, so credit to Mikey.”
Washington’s beleaguered penalty kill succeeded on all five of its missions, including two third period kills on iffy calls.
After playing well and coming up empty in a few of its recent games, Washington was heartened by the victory over a difficult division foe in a tough building.
“It felt like that time of year where it felt like a big game, being .500 and needing a win,” says Strome. “It’s a building that obviously hasn’t treated us well; in my whole career, I don’t think I’ve ever won here until tonight, and obviously [losing] last year here in the playoffs.
“It just felt like a big game, so nice to get a win. I thought we were great all up and down the lineup, penalty kill and power play. Obviously we score one, but some good chances and some good looks that we can hopefully build on and move forward. And I thought [Thompson] was great all night.”
Carolina’s four-game winning streak came to a halt with Tuesday’s setback.
“You can’t beat yourself, especially against a good team,” says Brind’Amour. “I give [the Caps] credit because their game was on. They did what they had to do, especially at the start of the game. You could tell what their mindset was, and we were just not sharp.”
