Vanecek, Capitals shut out Hurricanes

WASHINGTON-- Vitek Vanecek made 36 saves for the Washington Capitals in a 4-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

It was the third shutout of the season for Vanecek, who made his first start since Feb. 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He left that game in the first period because of an upper-body injury.
"It feels good. You're trying to get back. Just trying to help the team," Vanecek said. "[The team] helped me a lot today, blocking shots. We battled hard today and it was a good game."
Alex Ovechkin scored his 33rd goal of the season for the Capitals (22-18-9), who had not won at home since Jan. 22 (six games). With 763 NHL goals, Ovechkin is three from tying Jaromir Jagr for third in NHL history.
"I thought it was a really strong game," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "We had a real good first period, the guys were on point, came out the right way and got ourselves the lead and just built on it from there. They gave a pretty good push in the third period, but that's when we blocked some shots and Vitek made some real big saves."

Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Hurricanes (37-12-5), who had a seven-game point streak end (5-0-2).
Carolina was 0-for-3 on the power play; Washington was 2-for-7.
"Too many penalties, especially against a power play like that," Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho said. "Our power play was bad. We didn't create any momentum whatsoever."
Evgeny Kuznetsov gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 18:33 of the first period, skating from the right point into the left circle and scoring on a wrist shot during a two-man advantage.
"Lots of penalties. That's definitely a trend I don't like," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Tonight, that's the game. First period, you're in the box for six minutes, the 5-on-3. You can't even get going. So, I don't like it, that's for sure."
Vanecek stopped Martin Necas on a breakaway at 4:41 of the second period, and Martin Fehervary made it 2-0 at 8:30 when he skated down the slot and took a pass from Conor Sheary, who was in the left circle.

Ovechkin increased the lead to 3-0 at 15:05 with a one-timer from just above the left circle off a pass from John Carlson on a power play. He scored once in the previous four games.
Dmitri Orlov scored with 58 seconds remaining in the third period for the 4-0 final.
Capitals forward Anthony Mantha played 16:13 in his first game since Nov. 4, when he injured his left shoulder in a 5-4 overtime loss at the Florida Panthers.
"Mentally felt awesome. It was a long four months, little over four months, so just getting ready for a game felt good," Mantha said. "Then stepping on the ice for warmups you see the fans for the first time in quite some time. Physically, I think it went pretty well. Obviously, a little bit of fatigue at the end there, but [that's] to be expected."
NOTES: Vanecek relieved Ilya Samsonov to start the second period of a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. ... Washington had not won since Feb. 17 (5-3 at the Philadelphia Flyers). ... Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen had his point streak end at nine games (12 points; four goals, eight assists). ... Aho's point streak ended at seven games (eight points; three goals, five assists). ... Carlson has scored a point in seven of his past nine games (10 points; one goal, nine assists). ... Washington center Nic Dowd won seven of 10 face-offs. ... The Capitals and Hurricanes will play in the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Feb. 18. ... Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801) scored the most goals in NHL history.