The road to Christmas takes the Carolina Hurricanes out of Raleigh for three straight, beginning Friday night in Washington D.C. for a battle between two of the Metropolitan Division's best. The Canes finished their four-game homestand with a pair of victories, including a 4-0 triumph over the Islanders on Tuesday. This was an important battle within the Metro as the Canes tried to make up some ground.
Pyotr Kochetkov returned to the net on Friday night after stopping all 32 shots he faced in the team's victory over the Islanders. The rest of the group remained the same. Washington turned to Charlie Lindgren as they continued to play without their captain. Alex Ovechkin has started to make good progress but isn't expected to play before the holiday break.
It took a while for the Hurricanes to get going, largely thanks to an early too-many-men penalty within the first three minutes. Kochetkov had to be sharp, coming up with big stops during Washington's man advantage. His best was an aggressive save on Dylan Strome's one-timer early in the power play. The Canes killed it and started to get their offense going, only to be stopped by Lindgren.
In the final minute of the period, the Capitals would draw first blood. Andrew Mangiapane's shot was redirected by Aliaksei Protas in the slot, beating Kochetkov to give Washington the first goal. There wasn't anything the Canes' netminder could've done to prevent it. The tip was perfect and it allowed Washington to sneak into the intermission up by a goal.
The second period started as a game of one-upmanship between the netminders. After two unsuccessful Carolina power plays, the latter of which featured a patented Kochetkov poke check on Tom Wilson, each goalie showcased their flair for the dramatic. Kochetkov began by making two incredible stops, including a blocker save on Dubois's baseball swing to keep it 1-0. Not to be outdone, Lindgren did a full windmill and made a sensational glove save on Tyson Jost to maintain their lead. It was a truly insane sequence.
The last four minutes of the second period decided the game. With 3:49 left in the period, Jakub Vrana snapped a shot from the wing past Kochetkov to double Washington's lead. It was one of those moments when you need your goalie to stop the harmless shot. Instead, the Capitals took a 2-0 lead. In the final minute, the Capitals got another as Connor McMichael scored in the deep slot to push the lead to three. All of a sudden, the Canes were in a hole they couldn't dig out of.
Down by three goals, the Hurricanes needed to do everything they could to get back into the game. Taking an offensive zone penalty didn't help, but the kill came through again to prevent the deficit from growing. It looked like they might've found a little life when Seth Jarvis finally broke the shutout. Playing catch with Sebastian Aho, Jarvis surprised Lindgren and snapped a shot short-side that found daylight to get the Canes on the board.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. They successfully challenged for goalie interference after McMichael's shot hit John Carlson as he was parked in the crease, preventing Washington from stealing the momentum back. However, they couldn't climb any closer. The Capitals kept hold of their two-goal lead, beating the Canes 3-1 to earn an important victory.
The bounces didn't go the Canes' way in D.C. Martin Necas was inches away from tying the game early in the second period, hitting the crossbar before earning their second power play. If Jost's shot were a few inches in any direction, we wouldn't get a Save of the Year candidate. The Canes didn't play their cleanest game of the season, but it felt like they played well enough to win on the road.
Both goalies put it all on the line on Friday night. The difference really comes down to one shot. Vrana's goal to make it 2-0 is amplified by the heroics from both men during the earlier sequence. Lindgren allowed a rough goal, but his was with his team up by three. Kochetkov's bad goal of the game was while it was still 1-0. If that stays out, who knows if McMichael's goal even happens.
Jarvis and Aho combined for the goal and Andrei Svechnikov had some good chances, but there has been a surprising lack of production from Martin Necas over the last week. It wasn't realistic to expect his points to continue to pile up, but he has just one in the last four games. He's become an easy target for teams as they try to find ways to slow Necas down.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes' final two games before Christmas will come in a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday. They'll be at Madison Square Garden for a weird 12:30 pm start against the Rangers on Sunday. On Monday night, the Canes will be in Nashville for their annual visit before enjoying their holiday.