The Carolina Hurricanes defended home ice in Game 3, smashing the Washington Capitals 4-0 at Lenovo Center Saturday night.

Frederik Andersen and the Hurricanes' depth scoring proved the difference, in what could have been a game that went the other way fast.

In what was nearly a mirror of Games 1 and 2, the Canes were the worse team in the opening frame, getting outchanced and outshot by the Caps, but Andersen came up huge with save after save.

Perhaps the biggest was on Alex Ovechkin who got loose off of a faceoff win for Washington and found himself all alone in front. 

Andersen made an acrobatic save, kicking the leg out to get a toe on that Ovechkin redirect.

"Clearly that was the key to our win tonight," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "That first period, where clearly they were on their game and we were on our heels. It's what goaltending does. It kept us in the game. I thought we got to it a little bit in the second half of the game, but it could have been a lot different if we're chasing it.

"That might have been one of the better games he's played for us just with the actual magnitude of the game, what it means and how his performance impacted it with the way he played."

But following that same reversed blueprint, it was the Hurricanes who actually struck first despite it all, as Andrei Svechnikov jumped into the dot on a faceoff loss and ripped a quick shot by Logan Thompson.

He hit the post earlier in the game, his third of the series, but he wasn't going to be denied this time.

"After every faceoff, we have a plan kind of, but to be honest, that one wasn't planned," Svechnikov said. "I just saw the puck was loose and made the move to get closer to the puck and shot it.

"Just getting the lead, 1-0, I think is huge, especially when it's 0-0 in a tight game."

And once they got that first one, the team got rolling.

"The second half of the game we got rolling a little better, but obviously that Svech goal was huge," Brind'Amour said. "Nothing going on, and obviously a won faceoff for them, but he ends up jumping in and sometimes you need those individual efforts. We had that tonight."

And toward the end of the second period while on the power play, Jack Roslovic got his first goal of the postseason, cleanly beating Thompson shortside from the left circle.

It was a big game for Roslovic, who found himself as a healthy scratch after Game 3 of Round 1.

Not only did he score that second period tally, but he also picked up an assist on Eric Robinson's first of the postseason.

"It's a deep team, a really good team so it's nice to come back and try to help the guys out as best I can," Roslovic said. "I don't really want to get too deep into it. But like I said, just always be ready and try to help the team win."

After Carolina killed off a phantom penalty to Jordan Staal, the team started rolling again and Robinson blew by John Carlson on the left wing and absolutely wired one top corner past Thompson.

"You always want to contribute in the playoffs when moments are bigger so it was nice to get one to go in," Robinson said.

From there, the Hurricanes just buried the Capitals as the team begin to forecheck and skate them into the ground. You could tell that Washington just had nothing left in the tank and were playing out the string in that period as the Canes just kept coming.

"That was textbook Hurricanes hockey," Andersen said. "Long shifts in their end, making it tough on them to break out and obviously that sets up the next line to kind of continue to do the same. It's tough to change that momentum when you're kind of in it as the defending team. Obviously huge to protect the lead and build on that."

The lead ballooned to four late in the game as Carolina grabbed a second power play goal, as Blake picked up a missed shot off the end boards and got it to after quickly putting it on net.

The Hurricanes now take a 2-1 series lead with another game in Raleigh slated for Monday night.

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