Recap: Canes Bested by Caps in Shootout

Analysis from Raleigh
→ The Carolina Hurricanes' home winning streak was halted by the Washington Capitals, but the team still earned a hard-fought point in a 4-3 shootout loss. Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk and Teuvo Teravainen netted goals for the Canes in regulation, but they were blanked in two shots in the skills competition.
"I think we played the right way, we just couldn't get the win," Teravainen said. "I think we played well, but it's just not enough sometimes."
"I liked our game a lot," head coach Bill Peters said. "I liked our start. I liked the fact that when we fell behind, we tied it up. I liked the fact that we pushed and pushed hard."

→ A hallmark of the home winning streak has been the Hurricanes' ability to win third periods. Tonight, with the score knotted at two heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation, the Canes took advantage of an early-period power play to snag a one-goal lead.
The Hurricanes gained control of the puck on the power play's ensuing faceoff, and less than 10 seconds later, the puck was in the back of the net. Sebastian Aho's shot was redirected by Teravainen in the slot, and Lee Stempniak was providing all sorts of traffic in Philipp Grubauer's eyes, as the puck skittered through him and in.
The Capitals found the game-tying goal in the final 10 minutes of the game, though, as T.J. Oshie redirected Dmitry Orlov's point shot.
"It wasn't for a lack of chances for us," Peters said. "We were pushing. We stayed aggressive and stayed on our toes."
"We still had a great third period. We didn't give them too much, and we didn't sit back. I thought we created a lot of chances," Jordan Staal said. "We were still moving our feet and creating plays."
→ Throughout the home winning streak, Jeff Skinner has undoubtedly been one of the team's best players. He was a key contributor to the Canes' comeback against Vancouver on Tuesday, and tonight he picked up where he left off, opening the scoring at the 5:46 mark of the first period. Skinner planted himself at the top of the crease and awaited a pass from Derek Ryan. Matt Niskanen attempted to knock him off the puck but stood no chance; Skinner had body position and strength on his skates, as the puck found his stick and he finished for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.

→ The Capitals scored two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead in the second period. First, it was Alex Ovechkin scoring on an odd-man rush on the power play to even the score.
"We turned it over, and then they scored on a 4-on-2 rush," Peters said. "Lesson learned there."
Then, it was Evgeny Kuznetsov feeding former Hurricane Justin Williams in the slot for the quick tally.
The Hurricanes answered quickly. On a 2-on-1 rush, Aho pulled up at the blue line and found Justin Faulk, who didn't miss and made it a 2-2 game heading into the second intermission.
"The D-man pressured me, so I just tried to make a good pass to Faulker," Aho said.
"I liked the effort, I really did," Peters said.
→ Tonight marked the front half of the Canes' fifth back-to-back set of the season. It's an easier one, too, as the team doesn't have to go anywhere for tomorrow night's tilt, as they host the Buffalo Sabres, who topped the Islanders 3-2 tonight.
"Right back at it tomorrow," Staal said. "There's never an easy game in this league. We're going to have another big match tomorrow, and we're going to need some points."
"Tomorrow is a new day and we have a new chance to win a game," Teravainen said.