Carolina Hurricanes Fall to Red Hot Washington Capitals

The Carolina Hurricanes Can’t Put Together Complete Game Fall at Home 2-1 to Streaking Washington Capitals.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

WSH Goal (15:52) – Michael Latta (3), assisted by Andre Burakovsky (6), Dmitry Orlov (10)

Andre Burakovsky gained the zone with Michael Latta, but out manned 3 to 2. Burakovsky slipped past the defense and flung the puck towards the net. Cam Ward was able to stop the initial shot, but gave up a juicy rebound. The defense was unable to get the puck and Latta slid it past Ward for the games first tally.

2nd Period

WSH Goal (12:49) – Jason Chimera (9), assisted by John Carlson (21), Jay Beagle (6)

The Caps won the faceoff and got the puck back to Carlson. Carlson fired the puck towards the net, it bounced off of Jason Chimera and past Ward. There was nothing that he could do to stop the puck, and just like that its 2-0 Caps.

3rd Period

CAR Goal (2:18) – Kris Versteeg (5), assisted by John-Michael Liles (5), Eric Staal (14)

Kris Versteeg scored a beautiful goal to make the game within one goal. Eric Staal passed the puck to Liles who shot the puck wide right of the net but drawing Grubauer to that side. Versteeg picked up the puck outside the left post, went between the legs and shot behind his right leg and into the open side of the net.

Summary

The Washington Capitals came into the game on a 5 game win streak and first in the league. The Hurricanes also came in to the game in good form. In his last two games Cam Ward only let up 2 goals on 56 shots. The power play was also red hot coming into the game with 10 power play goals in the last 8 games.

More From Cardiac Cane – Ryan Murphy is the Odd Man Out on the Defense

Cam Ward had another solid game. Though 2 goals on 21 shots is not a good stat, the first goal of the game was as much as the defense’s fault as it was Ward’s fault. With three defenders taking on two capitals players, the defense should have been able to clear the rebound or the additional attacker. The second goal was unstoppable, and outside of winning the faceoff, there wasn’t much that was going to stop it.

The Canes out shot the Caps 32-21 but were unable to get the scoring going. No matter how well the team is playing, you aren’t going to win many games only scoring one goal. The Canes had plenty of chances but were unable to capitalize on them.

The theme of the game for the Hurricanes was the inability to finish a play. Everything looked to be at 90% done. Eric Staal had two great scoring chances but missed the net completely on both of them.

Carolina Hurricanes

On the second chance, Staal had a two on one with Skinner, he was able to pull a great toe drag to get around the defender and open up a 2-0. Instead of passing the puck to Skinner for a one timer and possible goal, he opted for a shot. The shot itself wasn’t a bad decision, but in the end he missed the net wide and missed the opportunity.

This was only one of the missed opportunities. Shortly after Versteeg’s goal in the third, Skinner had the puck in the crease with an empty side of the net and was unable to slid the puck past Grubauer.

The power play also faltered in the game and went 0-3. The power plays had good possessions and good shots however, there were no goals. Late in the second power play, Skinner took an interference penalty on Justin Williams. Thought this penalty didn’t lead to a goal against, it put the team in a bad spot off of what should have been an advantage.

Next: How the Jordan Staal Trade Changed the Canes

The Hurricanes next game is against the Devils on Saturday, after the Christmas break. The Hurricanes can draw on a lot of positives going into the break.  The power play has moved from 29th in the league to 18th. Cam Ward has had 3 straight games over .900 sv% and a streak of 54 saves in 56 shots against.

If these trends can keep going in the same direction, the Carolina Hurricanes will see good results in 2016.