Recap: Canes Edged In Return Home By Caps

RALEIGH, NC. - The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals battled to a 4-2 final Sunday afternoon at PNC Arena, with the home side coming up just short.

A tight, playoff-like contest started with a scoreless first period, but the overarching theme was the physical nature of things. Undoubtedly the most intense game of the Hurricanes season to date, the history of the head-to-head series showed itself, with the two sides engaging the Carolina crowd.
The intensity grew as the game continued on, keeping the scoreless trend beyond the midway point of the second period. Shortly after that mark though, Washington's Dmitry Orlov began his notable afternoon, dropping off a pass for Alexander Ovechkin at the back door to make it a 1-0 game.
Less than a minute later it was 2-0.
A centering feed from Aliaksei Protas caught the back of Tony DeAngelo's leg, bouncing past Andersen to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
That score would carry into the third, when Carolina would begin mounting their comeback. 6:22 in, Jordan Martinook setup a wonderful release from Jesperi Kotkaniemi to cut Washington's lead in half.

Then, seven minutes later, Nino Niederreiter closed out a Canes transition sequence, also burying glove-side high to even the game at 2-2.

The push was on and in full effect for Rod Brind'Amour's squad, however, unfortunately two penalties just 30 seconds apart gave Washington all the advantage they needed, as Orlov would slide the game-winner past Andersen on the power play with just 2:55 remaining. An empty net goal from John Carlson wrapped up his three point game.
They Said It:
Nino Niederreiter on today's play by his team:
"I thought we came out really strong. We had a really good first period that dictated the game, most of the time. They got a couple goals, we fought back, which was definitely great, but at the end of the day, some of the penalties killed."
Sebastian Aho on the team's schedule of a long flight Thursday, game Friday afternoon, off day Saturday and an afternoon game today before getting right back on the plane tomorrow:
"Those are just excuses if you go by schedule stuff. Every team has stretches of their schedule that aren't ideal. It's 82 games at the end of the day, you can't feel fresh for every single one of them. I was just happy to play in front of a good crowd. It think it was a good battle."
Rod Brind'Amour on today's challenge:
"That's a great, great team. They give you nothing. We had to earn every chance tonight. For two periods it was just dead even. Even though we were down two, I thought the game felt dead even. They got a lucky bounce and capitalized on one and that's what happened. Even in the third [at even strength], we gave up a two-on-one and then they had one go off the post, but that was it. I thought we did a great job coming back."
What's Next?:
The Canes will practice at PNC Arena Monday morning before getting right back on the road again, this time flying to Dallas for a Tuesday night contest.