The Carolina Hurricanes extended their win streak to six games today, defeating the Washington Capitals 4-2 at home.
First Period
The Capitals had a great chance early off a breakaway chance for Hendrix Lapierre, but he was denied by Pyotr Kochetkov. Carolina then went on to really control play from there though with all the momentum in the first half of the frame, outshooting Washington by about a 9-1 margin to start the game. Trevor van Riemsdyk did have another good chance for Washington at about the midway mark of the frame, but Kochetkov came up with another big save.
Then with about six minutes to go in the period, Dmitry Orlov put a shot on goal that Charlie Lindgren went to catch, but it ended up going off his glove and in, putting the Hurricanes ahead.
However, the Hurricanes got into penalty trouble from there, and ended up with two minors on the same play, to give Washington a full two-minute 5-on-3. Then while it looked like Carolina may escape it, late in the power play, Alex Ovechkin wired a shot past Kochetkov to tie the game with 44 seconds left in the period.
Then with the teams back at even strength and seemingly set to be tied going into intermission, Kochetkov had to make a big save late, but Brandon Duhaime poked in the rebound. So with two goals in 33 seconds, Washington took a 2-1 lead to intermission, despite a really strong opening frame from the Hurricanes.
Second Period
Only minutes into the second period though, Martin Necas got in alone off a pass from Eric Robinson (catching Washington on a bad change) and deked to the backhand to beat Lindgren, tying the game.
Then only about three minutes later, Orlov wired another shot past Lindgren glove-side, putting Carolina back ahead.
The Hurricanes dominated much of the rest of the period, outshooting Washington by a huge margin. Carolina had a couple power plays where they couldn’t convert, and unsuccessful breakaway attempts from both Seth Jarvis and William Carrier, but the Hurricanes remained ahead by one through 40 minutes.
Third Period
The teams traded power plays early in the third period, where neither team could convert.
Alex Ovechkin had one of the Capitals’ better chances to even the game back up on a solo rush later, but he was denied on a big stop by Kochetkov. Even with the lead though, the Hurricanes seemed to be playing with a lot more urgency than Washington, and remained the better team in the third period.
Then while Washington did have some late pressure with the goalie pulled to press for a tie, Andrei Svechikov buried an empty net goal with eight seconds to go, securing a 4-2 win for the Hurricanes.
Takeaways
It’s another really well-earned win for Carolina, dominating a good opponent in Washington through most of the game. They came out strong to outplay the Capitals early on, and really only started to initially lose control of the game when they got into penalty trouble.
But despite a tough end to the first period where they ended up falling behind, Carolina didn’t miss a beat to start the second frame, once again dominating much of the back 40 minutes. They outshot Washington by a 31-13 margin across the second and third periods, also severely out-chancing them over that stretch.
Martin Necas in particular had another huge game, registering a goal and three points in the win, to bring his point streak to six games. He continues to look more dominant this season, with five goals and 15 points over those six games, bringing his season totals to six goals and 18 points over just 10 games.
The Hurricanes continue to really impress game after game. They’ve been incredibly consistent, and look better right now than parts of last season even with a weaker roster in place on paper.
It’s also a big win against an opponent who they’re battling with for positioning at the top of the Metropolitan Division early on. The Hurricanes’ win streak extends to six games with the victory, now holding an 8-2-0 record over their first 10 games.
They’ll be back in action on Tuesday, when they continue their homestand against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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