The Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1, at Capital One Arena on Thursday. The series is now tied at one win apiece. While the Caps never trailed in regulation in Tuesday’s series opener, the Canes dominated much of the match. By contrast, Spencer Carbery’s team made several much-needed adjustments and skated off with the victory in Game Two.
Game One was a textbook example of how not to beat Carolina. The Hurricanes are the NHL’s top puck-possession team. However, that does not mean an opponent should spend long stretches playing containment defense. On Thursday, the Capitals successfully sustained a counter-attack on the Canes.
In the first game, the Capitals mustered a mere 14 shots on Frederick Andersen. On Thursday, Washington surpassed that total in the second period alone. Along the way, the Capitals proved to themselves — and the loud home crowd — they could successfully establish a forecheck at times against Rod Brind’Amour’s team.
Overall, Washington put together a much more complete effort in Game Two, dominating the second period in particular. Subsequently, John Carlson’s power-play goal early in the third served as a valuable insurance marker. The Capitals went into a bit of defensive shell as the final frame progressed, but they staged a reasonable effective close-out.
After starring in losing effort in Game One, Caps goaltender Logan Thompson made Thursday’s lead stand up to the end. Thompson stopped all but one of 17 Carolina shots in the third period. Ultimately, he earn his fifth win of the playoffs.
Another lead, with a difference
On Tuesday, the Capitals broke through for the game’s first goal. Thereafter, Washington mustered a mere five shots on goal for the rest of the game. Game Two was a bit different.
On Thursday, Connor McMichael provided Washington’s first goal. While the Canes looked to dump the puck in the Capitals’ end, McMichael caught the puck going the other way. McMichael turned the play into a breakaway as the Hurricane defenders stopped chasing. Moments later, the Capitals had a 1-0 lead at just 2:16 of the second period.
Unlike Game One, Washington pressed for the rest of the second stanza. Andersen robbed Anthony Beauvillier on a Grade-A scoring chance late in the period. The Caps were unable to generate a second tally by the second intermission. Nevertheless, they seemed to be in much better shape to carve out a victory over the rest of the game.
Overall, in my opinion, the middle 20 minutes on Thursday provided the Caps’ best play since Game Four against Montreal. That period was critical to the Capitals winning the opening-round series.
Carlson adds insurance
John Carlson buried a power-play goal 1:54 into the third period for a 2-0 lead. Unlike Game One, the Capitals had some breathing room. Mind you, two-goal leads can be dangerous. Just ask the Colorado Avalanche or St. Louis Blues. Even so, at least there was now some margin for error.
“Error” is operative word. Near the midpoint of the periods, McMichael took a bad day of game penalty. Promptly, Carolina converted the power play into a Shayne Gostisbehere goal off a lucky bounce. The carom served to tee up a blast for the hard-shooting veteran defenseman. Thompson had little chance to make the save.
As time wound down, Washington sat back a bit too much. Carolina loves to throw massive amount of rubber on net from just about any angle. Fortunately, Thompson was equal to the task. He made 16 saves to preserve the lead. With exactly one minute remaining, Tom Wilson tacked on an empty net goal to seal the deal.
Heading to Raleigh
Despite a rather lackluster start to the series, the Capitals have yet to trail through 120 minutes of regulation play. Including WIlson’s 5-on-6 goal, the Capitals have a combined 4-3 edge in overall scoring after two games.
As always, goaltending is the great equalizer. So far, Thompson has stopped 58 of 61 Carolina shots (.951 save percentage).
Next, the Capitals head to a hostile environment in Raleigh. No matter what you call the place, the Lenovo Center has been a house of horrors for the Capitals. Washington has not secured a non-shootout win since 2022 at the former PNC Arena/RBC Center. Moreover, the Hurricanes are an outstanding home-ice team in general. Carolina earned 63 of their 99 standings points at home this season.
Storm surge, indeed: The Hurricanes often use the crowd noise to their advantage. The barn gets quite loud.
Expect the Hurricanes to come out with massive energy in the first 10 minutes or so of Game Three. If the Capital can weather the storm (bad pun intended), they can land a counterpunch and temporarily sap some energy from the home side.
Bad ice a potential factor for both sides
Pay attention to the ice conditions in Games Three and Four. There is a Shane Gillis show at Lenovo Center on Friday ahead of Game Three. Meanwhile Game 4 is sandwiched in between a pair of Pearl Jam shows. In other words, the ice will be under a stage setup on the floor for most of the weekend.
Both teams are in the same boat here. However, the speed-oriented Hurricanes could be slightly more affected by sluggish ice and bouncing pucks. Conversely, Carolina is used to less-than ideal ice conditions on their home ice surface. It doesn’t seem to slow the Canes down too much.
Thursday proved the Capitals can beat the Hurricanes at their own game. Carolina produced just 11 shots through 40 minutes. The Capitals forced the Hurricanes to work hard to escape their defensive zone and alleviate pressure. The best the Hurricanes could manage, especially in the second period: get a stoppage, force a regroup or dump in for a line change.
