Recap: Canes Battle Past Capitals

RALEIGH, N.C. - Utilizing multi-point showings from Andrei Svechnikov (2G, 1A) and Sebastian Aho (2A), the Carolina Hurricanes earned a sixth consecutive victory on Tuesday with a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals.

GAME SUMMARY | BOX SCORE | BUY TICKETS

Carolina avoided many of the first-period miscues that cost the club in its last meeting with Washington, but still trailed at the first intermission following Boone Jenner's icebreaker. After a handful of chances went by the wayside to start the second period, Svechnikov finally found the equalizer at 3:58, whacking home a rebound in front.

The Capitals soon regained their lead, but the clubs headed into the final 20 minutes deadlocked at two after Eric Robinson's centering feed ramped up off a Washington stick and leaked through Logan Thompson with 1:11 left in the second period.

As both sides searched for a hero in a decisive third period, Svechnikov once again stepped up for Carolina, this time on the power play. A scrum in the corner left the Canes' sniper all alone in front, and after Nikolaj Ehlers managed to sneak the puck to him, he made no mistake tucking a backhander into the top corner with 6:04 remaining.

The Capitals pushed back in search of an equalizer, but instead, another Svechnikov-driven tally closed the book on the evening's scoring, when he set up Mark Jankowski's fifth goal in as many outings.

In net for Carolina, Pyotr Kochetkov continued his perfect start to the season, making 20 saves and improving to 4-0-0.

Stats & Standouts

• Andrei Svechnikov is the first Canes player to record multiple multi-goal games this season (2). His six goals this year are tied with Sebastian Aho and several others for the second-most in the NHL at the time of publication.
• Tonight was also Svechnikov's 27th career three-point game, tying him with Kevin Dineen for the sixth-most in franchise history.
• Sebastian Aho extended his point streak to a league-best seven games with an assist on Svechnikov's first strike. Also adding an assist on Mark Jankowski's empty-net goal, the Finn has 13 points (6G, 7A) this season, all accrued during this seven-game run.
• This is the ninth point streak of at least seven games in Aho's career, tying Kevin Dineen for the second-most in franchise history. Only Ron Francis (17) has more such showings.
• Mark Jankowski has scored in five straight games, tying the second-longest goal-scoring streak in team history (since relocation). The record is six, achieved by six different players.
• Pyotr Kochetkov (20 saves) became the sixth goalie in Hurricanes franchise history to win each of his first four games of a season, following Frederik Andersen (8 GP in 2021-22), James Reimer (4 GP in 2020-21), Petr Mrazek (4 GP in 2019-20), Sean Burke (4 GP in 1995-96) and Mike Veisor (4 GP in 1981-82).

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour on his team's response to a slow start...

“I give the guys credit. I mean, we were sluggish there to start, and then Washington was good, obviously. I thought Kooch kept us in it. That's a huge play there, [killing a] five-on-three, you know, close to the goal and able to survive that whole incident, which I don't know how that should even be like that, but that's another discussion. And then I just thought after the intermission, we kind of regrouped, and I thought the guys came out and played a real good game after that.”

Jackson Blake acknowledging the slow start, but also touching on his group finding a way to win six in a row...

“It feels like these last couple of games, for sure, the boys have been clicking. It feels like how we played in the playoffs again a little bit. Tonight, as a group, it wasn’t our best in the first period, but then the response we had (was great). And for me, personally, I’m trying to figure out what I did last year in the playoffs and build off that at the start of this season and moving forward.”

Andrei Svechnikov following his latest successful outing...

“I’m just playing my game and just enjoying the game. Fishy’s been unbelievable. We’ve been grinding away every shift and playing in their zone every shift. It’s just so much fun and hopefully it’ll stay that way. It’s fun to play that way.”

Mark Jankowski as the group gets set to embark on a six-game road trip...

“We’ve got to keep playing a simple game. Keep playing our game. I feel like these early road trips bring us close together. It’s a lot of the same guys we had last year and whatnot. The road trips are great for eating out on the road, bonding, and getting to our game. We have to keep our foot on the gas on the road here.”

What's Next?

The Canes are scheduled to practice on Wednesday. They'll be off on Thursday before flying to Winnipeg on Friday. Their six-game State Fair Road Trip starts against the Jets on Saturday.

Next Game: Saturday, Oct. 17 at Winnipeg | 3:30 p.m. ET | Hurricanes Hockey Network

Next Home Game: Tuesday, Oct. 28 vs. Boston | 7:00 p.m. ET | Hurricanes Hockey Network | Tickets | Parking