The Capitals dropped a 6-2 decision to the Hurricanes in a costly game.
WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals started on the right foot and did a lot of things correctly against the Carolina Hurricanes. Then, the wheels fell off in the third, as two costly penalties and six unanswered goals led to a 6-2 loss.
Here's a full play-by-play recap.
Third Period
:58.2 —Ponomarev scores his first NHL goal to make it 6-2, and Edmundson breaks his stick on the crossbar.
1:49 — Dmitry Orlov scores on the empty net to make it 5-2.
2:32 — Kuemper pulled for the extra attacker.
3:23 — Capitals pull Kuemper for the extra attacker and get a power play. Timeout. They put Kuemper back in for the start of the man advantage.
6:01 — Brent Burns strikes again on the second. consecutive power play and it's 4-2 for Carolina.
7:19 – Andrei Svechnikov makes it 3-2 off a one-timer on the power play. And Evgeny Kuznetsov to the box for slashing.
7:47 — Capitals to the PK right off the face-off. Beck Malenstyn for a slash.
9:22 — Alex Ovechkin had Jordan Staal fall onto his back leg off the face-off and went down in visible pain. Took a minute to get to the bench, and he's hurting. Staying on the bench for now.
16:37 — Seth Jarvis gets to the front and sneaks the puck past Kuemper to even the score at 2.
20:00 — The third period is officially underway.
Second Period
0:00 — Capitals lead 2-1 after 40, but being outshot 18-10.
6:40 — Max Pacioretty does everything right and fires on a 2-on-0, but rings iron.
13:27 — John Carlson is honored for hitting 500 career assists. Gets stick taps from his teammates and congrats from former teammate Dmitry Orlov.
14:43 — Brent Burns makes it a 2-1 game after driving to the net and firing a feed to the front past Darcy Kuemper.
20:00 — The second period is underway.
First Period
0:00 — After 20, Capitals lead Hurricanes 2-0 on goals from Dowd and Strome. Carolina leads 10-6 in shots.
3:41 — Dylan Strome strikes on the power play to make it a 2-0 game, redirecting a slap pass from Alex Ovechkin past Kochetkov. Ovechkin extended his point streak to four games with the primary assist. John Carlson gets the secondary assist, moving him to 500 in his career.
3:46 — The Capitals will go back to the power play with Jesperi Kotkaniemi going off for tripping.
8:14 — Capitals will get 53 seconds of 4-on-4, then go to the power play. Andrei Svechnikov off for interference.
9:21 — Capitals to the PK. Trevor van Riemsdyk off for hooking. During the first media timeout, Washington paid tribute to Dmitry Orlov, who saluted the crowd and received a warm welcome back.
12:54 — Nic Dowd picks up a nice feed from Nicolas Aube-Kubel in front of the net and holds onto the puck before sniping a quick shot past Pyotr Kochetkov. It's 1-0 Capitals, with Aube-Kubel and Beck Malenstyn nabbing the assists.
20:00 — The puck is dropped and play is underway.
Pregame
6:50 p.m. — Here are the Capitals' starters:
Pacioretty-Strome-Lapierre
Van Riemsdyk-Bear
6:30 p.m. — Both the Capitals and Hurricanes have taken the ice for warmups. Here are Washington's lines:
Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty-Dylan Strome-Hendrix Lapierre
Aliaksei Protas-Connor McMichael-Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Garnet Hathaway
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Trevor van Riemsdyk-Ethan Bear
Joel Edmundson-Nick Jensen
Darcy Kuemper
Hunter Shepard