Hurricanes end Capitals' home winning streak at 10

WASHINGTON -- Victor Rask scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes ended the Washington Capitals' NHL-best 10-game home winning streak with a 3-1 victory at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

The Capitals (27-14-3), who also had their season-high five-game winning streak end, had not lost at home since the Los Angeles Kings defeated them 5-2 on Nov. 30.
"They've been playing great. They're a great team," Carolina goalie Scott Darling said. "Every streak has to come to an end, so I'm happy that we were the ones to do it."
\[WATCH: All Hurricanes vs. Capitals highlights\]
Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho scored, and Darling made 27 saves for the Hurricanes (20-15-8), who won for the first time in three games.
Braden Holtby made 30 saves for Washington, which plays at Carolina on Friday.

Rask's goal came during a delayed penalty call on Capitals forward Tom Wilson for a hit from behind on forward Derek Ryan. With an extra attacker on for the Hurricanes, Rask scored from the left face-off circle off the rebound of Justin Faulk's shot from the point at 10:54.
"I'm not sure how it got to me," Rask said. "But Faulk shot it and somehow it bounced straight out to me, and I just tried to put it on net."

Darling helped keep the game 0-0 well into the second period. At 8:47 of the period, he pivoted to make a pad save on Jay Beagle, who tried to jam a shot past him from in front.
Staal scored shorthanded on a breakaway at 11:33 of the second period. He poked away a cross-ice pass from Carlson inside the Carolina blue line and scored on a backhand to make it 1-0.
Washington tied it 1-1 at 16:05 of the second when Lars Eller beat Darling with a shot from the high slot after the Capitals won a face-off. Eller has scored in three straight games.

"It's always disappointing to lose at home," Eller said. "But today we probably didn't deserve much better. It was not really our best game, our best effort, and when that happens other teams might beat you. Even here."
Aho scored into an empty net with 1:29 remaining in the third to make it 3-1.
Carolina moved into fifth place in the Metropolitan Division.

"Two points in regulation is the only way you can really make up any ground," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "The overtime point or the three-point game doesn't do much for you. We were up one late in the Washington game at home (on Jan. 2) with probably seven, eight, nine minutes to go and [lost 5-4 in overtime]. That's how close it is. That's the reality of it."

Goal of the game

Rask's goal at 10:54 of the third period.

Save of the game

Darling's save on Beagle at 8:47 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Staal's shorthanded goal at 11:33 of the second period.

They said it

"[The Capitals] had been on a pretty good run here at home, and they're a tough team to play against. But so are we." -- Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho
"We're going to have to tighten up a few areas. They were just a little more desperate in the battle. And then special teams got the shorthanded goal for them. We weren't good enough." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz

Need to know

Ryan left the game in the third period after the hit by Wilson. There was no update. … Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce was a late scratch. He sustained an upper-body injury during the morning skate and will have an MRI on Friday. … Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky (illness) was a late scratch. He was not expected to travel for the game Friday.

What's next

Hurricanes: Host the Washington Capitals on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV)
Capitals: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV)