Hurricanes Dominate Washington Capitals, Win 6-1

The Carolina Hurricanes came into this Tuesday night matchup with a record of 0-2-1 against the Washington Capitals. The Canes have lost 5 straight regular-season games against the Capitals dating back to early 2020. Despite the caps having their number for most of the season, the Canes got out to a very early start en route to a 6-1 win over their division rivals.

The fourth line connected for a goal very early into the game as Derek Stepan scored just 2 minutes and 41 seconds into the first period for his eighth of the year. Newly acquired Max Domi registered an assist on Stepan’s goal, giving him his first point as a Carolina Hurricane.

The second line decided to join the party not too much later as Martin Necas finished a tic-tac-toe passing playing from Vincent Trocheck and Andrei Svechnikov to put the Canes up 2-0 just 7 minutes and 47 seconds into the very young first period.

The Capitals’ powerplay, which had gone 4-14 through the first 3 games of the season against the Canes, got a chance to cut the Caps’ deficit late in the first period. From his office, Alexander Ovechkin thought he scored, but the goal was waived off after T.J. Oshie took a penalty to negate the goal. A pretty lucky break for the Canes.

The Washington Capitals registered 23 hits in the first period alone, setting the tone for a very physical game between these two metropolitan clubs.

The Capitals got off to a hot start to start the second period, using their momentum to draw another penalty and get back on the powerplay. Although technically not a powerplay goal, Tom Wilson was able to deposit the puck into the net as the powerplay was expiring to cut the Canes’ lead in half 6:47 into the middle frame.

The Capitals went back onto the powerplay shortly thereafter but didn’t have the same luck as Sebastian Aho was able to pot a shorthanded goal. The Canes have scored 4 shorthanded goals on the season, and now have 2 in as many games.

Just a few minutes later Brett Pesce scored the Canes’ first four-on-four goal of the year to get the Canes out to a 4-1 lead halfway through the period. Brett has now tied his career-high in goals with 7.

Marty Necas scored his second of the night at 15:39 of the second period. Max Domi picked up his second assist of the night, and second assist as a Cane, to help the Canes get their fifth goal of the night.

After Vitek Vanecek let up 5 goals on 23 shots, Ilya Samsonov took over the crease to start the third period. Brendan Smith was able to bait Tom Wilson into taking a penalty by not fighting him but hinting at a potential bout later in the night. Which ended up happening as Wilson made easy work of Smith later in the night, but it was still fun.

Brady Skjei continued the scoring as he boosted the Canes’ lead to 6-1 halfway through the third period. As time wore down Capitals forward Lars Eller lined up Jesperi Kotkaniemi for a largely unnecessary hit, and the young Finn struggled to get off the ice. Not a fun way to end such a great game for the Hurricanes.

Overall it was an amazing team effort, especially on offense, as the Hurricanes completely dismantled the Capitals. It’s unfortunate it took until game 4 of the season series to figure out the Capitals, but frustration boiled over and resulted in a 6 game outpour of offense. This is the second touchdown in 2 games for the Canes, and they hope to repeat this type of offensive performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night.

Three Stars

3. Frederik Andersen– 25/26 saves, .962 save%

2. Max Domi- 2 assists

1. Martin Necas- 2 goals, 1 assist

Highlight Of The Night