Hurricanes energized, 'doing a lot of things right' entering Game 4 against Capitals

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have reason to feel confident going into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Washington Capitals at Lenovo Center on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

They have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series after a 4-0 win in Game 3 on Saturday. Ask any player or coach about the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and you're likely to hear a bit of tried-and-true wisdom: It's best not to get too high or too low. Momentum is captured and lost from shift to shift, period to period.

But the Hurricanes are energized coming off a shutout.

"You probably should, it makes sense," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I wasn't thinking about it that way. You do need, especially at this time of year, to find new ways to keep getting energized.

"Yeah, you want to move on, good or bad, because it's about the next game, but you certainly want to pull the positives out and build on that. That's certainly what we need to do."

Carolina found the positives in Game 3, but only after Washington created the better scoring chances in the first period. Goalie Frederik Andersen made two big saves in the first three minutes, stopping Tom Wilson on a breakaway with his right pad 26 seconds into the game, and denying Taylor Raddysh from the right hash marks at 2:25.

The Hurricanes think they can have a better start Monday.

"For us, it would be getting to our game right away, not tiptoeing into the game, not waiting around to see what kind of game it's going to be," defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. "Just taking control right from the start. Kind of the start we had in Game 1."

Carolina earned attention for its 94-34 advantage in shot attempts in the opener, but its 2-1 overtime win was a reminder that the outcomes are often much tighter. More importantly, shot attempts and high-danger chances are not how Brind'Amour evaluates his team's play.

"You're trying to create the better look all the time, but there's other ways to get to that," he said. "I don't get caught up in too much of this. I feel like it's taken a life of its own. You want to control the game. However that looks, then that's how it has to look. I thought we've done a pretty good job of that."

For the Hurricanes, the scoring formula comes down to scoring depth. Their seven goals in the series have come from seven different players, and 13 have scored this postseason.

"In the playoffs, not everyone is going to be feeling 100 percent every game," forward Taylor Hall said. "And when you are feeling 100 percent or when it's your time to contribute, you have to. Your role is crucial no matter how much you're playing or what your role is."

Hall, who has four points (one goal, three assists) in the playoffs, believes the Hurricanes are clicking offensively.

"I think we like the amount of looks we've had in the series," he said. "I wouldn't say we've been super lucky with our goal-scoring yet either. There's another level of our game we can get to, I feel like, and hopefully that's [Monday]."

It's the type of cautious optimism Carolina will carry into Game 4.

"We're doing a lot of things right," Brind'Amour said. "I love the three games we've played. There's certainly parts of the game where we'd like to be better, but we're playing a great team. They're going to put their will on us, too, at times. I've been very, very happy with the way we've played all three games."