The Washington Capitals fell 4-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night, losing for just the third time this fall. The loss snapped a three-game win streak, and while some blame can be put on Washington playing on back-to-back nights with travel against a well-rested club, Carolina showed just how tough they will be to beat in the Metropolitan Division this season.
After the defeat, head coach Spencer Carbery and a few of his players were candid about how well the Hurricanes limited the Capitals from successfully implementing what helped them win eight of their previous ten games. Washington was controlling 59.4 percent of the expected goals at five-on-five coming into Sunday.
“Game [was] not close, but give our guys credit,” Carbery said. “We didn’t pack it in, we fought. But, obviously, the game was what it was. We were in our end for probably, whatever it was, 75 percent of the game.
“We literally just couldn’t get through our end, break their pressure through the neutral zone, and then apply any pressure in their end.”
The Hurricanes ran a tired Capitals team ragged at even strength. Carolina out-attempted Washington 65-29 and outshot them 35-14 with the game played at five-on-five. With Alex Ovechkin scoring on the power play, the only line to break through five-on-five was the unit led by Nic Dowd.
Brandon Duhaime punched home a loose puck with just 11 seconds remaining in the first period. The goal would be Washington’s last as Carolina scored three unanswered, including an empty netter with nine seconds left in regulation.
“They’re a good team,” Dowd said. “It’s a tough building to play in. We’ve had a lot of history against each other, at least since I’ve been here. It’s always a war. They’re a high-shot-volume team. I think, at times, the shots are a little skewed because they’re shooting from absolutely everywhere, but also, that plays into their system and makes them very effective.
“I thought Chuckie played incredible tonight. I know he’s going to be upset at himself, but I thought he was our best player – gave us a chance to stay in that game. Going into the third down by one against a tough team in a tough building on a back-to-back – thought we put ourselves in a good spot.”
Charlie Lindgren had the busiest start of his season thus far, facing 44 shots. To Dowd’s point, the 30-year-old netminder kept Washington in the game as they fatigued down the stretch. Per MoneyPuck, Lindgren ended up stopping 0.57 goals above expected.
With the loss, Lindgren’s record drops to 3-3 on the season, with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage.
“Give them credit, they’re a really good hockey team, they’re well coached, they’ve got a lot of guys that got a lot of speed and skill,” Lindgren said. “They put a lot of pressure on our defense, and it’s tough breaking pucks out against those guys.
“As a goalie, I think you know in your mind that we played last night, and they hadn’t played since, I think, Thursday. I knew they were going to be well-rested and ready to go … We certainly had our moments tonight, too. But, obviously, it’s no secret that with travel and stuff, it can be a little bit harder. As a goalie, go in with the mindset of trying to help the guys out as much as possible.”
Despite the loss, the Capitals seemed proud that they fought to the game’s final moments, especially considering their trip to Carolina was their third game in four nights. Washington forced Pyotr Kochetkov to make several sparkling stops with Lindgren pulled for an extra attacker in the final 90 seconds of the third period.
“I thought with the circumstances, we played well,” Dowd said. “Hell of a first period from our entire team, especially Chuck. We come out of that up 2-1, power play does a job, our penalty kill was good tonight. Who knows, we get a goal six-on-five at the end, could be a different outcome.”
Carolina leaped ahead of the Capitals for second in the Metropolitan Division with the win. The Hurricanes have the best points percentage (.800) in the entire Eastern Conference, while the loss moved Washington down to fourth (.727), behind the Canes, New York Rangers (.773), and Florida Panthers (.731).
The Capitals will now get some much-needed rest, taking Monday off before returning to practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Tuesday. Their next game comes against the struggling Nashville Predators at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
