RALEIGH, N.C. — The Washington Capitals’ clash with the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon had all the trappings of a fiery playoff game. The teams’ speed was obvious, there was plenty of physical play, and the offensive talent kicked in for the final two periods of a tight matchup between the top teams in the Metropolitan Division.
What started as a sleepy matinee at PNC Arena ended as a raucous, 4-2 Washington win. The Capitals (14-3-5, 33 points), who are on a three-game winning streak, moved ahead of the Hurricanes (15-4-1, 31 points) and are alone in first place in the division.
Dmitry Orlov had the game-winner on the power play with 2:55 left, making it 3-2 after the Capitals had surrendered a 2-0 lead. Three of Orlov’s four goals have been game-winners. Washington went into the third period with the two-goal lead after Alex Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas scored in the second period. It was the 749th of Ovechkin’s NHL career — and the first of Protas’s.
“It was a big game for both teams,” said Orlov, who added an assist on Ovechkin’s goal. “Everybody played hard, was intense, and I think it was a great two points for us.”
Carolina had a strong final period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s goal from the slot with 13:38 left cut Washington’s lead in half, and Nino Niederreiter scored on a point-blank shot from the slot to tie it with 6:28 to go.
Washington then got a five-on-three power play for 90 seconds. The Capitals couldn’t get it done with the two-man advantage, but they capitalized with Orlov’s goal at five-on-four. John Carlson clinched the win with a long-range empty-netter with 1:41 left. That gave him three points after he assisted on Protas’s and Orlov’s goals.
Up next for Washington is another test: a visit to Atlantic Division power Florida on Tuesday.
“They had some quality chances today,” Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said of the Hurricanes. “… We knew we needed good goaltending coming in here, and we knew we needed a good team game. I thought we did that. I thought the goaltending was real good. We find ourselves moving on with two points.”
Here is what to know from the Capitals’ win:
Samsonov takes the reins
Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov, who had a shaky start to the season, made 30 saves Sunday to improve to 9-0-1. He is the sixth goaltender in NHL history to avoid a regulation loss in 10 or more decisions to start a season at 24 or younger.
“He’s put some good things together,” Laviolette said. “We wanted to give him a chance here to show what he can do in a couple big games.”
Sunday was the first time Samsonov had started for a third consecutive regular season game in his NHL career. It also was his fifth start in a six-game stretch.
Vitek Vanecek’s most recent start was in Seattle on Nov. 21. He let in four goals on 30 shots in Washington’s 5-2 loss to close a four-game road trip.
Samsonov had a chaotic start Sunday, misplaying the puck as he left the net. The Hurricanes quickly had two high-quality chances, with one shot hitting the post, but they couldn’t convert. Washington weathered the early storm and controlled play in the second period as Samsonov settled in.
Ovechkin stays hot
Ovechkin opened the scoring at 11:58 of the second after a slick pass from Orlov. Washington’s captain has 19 goals in 22 games.
Including Friday’s hat trick against Florida, he has four goals in his past two games and seven in his past five.
Protas gets his first
Protas followed Ovechkin’s goal just 59 seconds later. He passed the puck to the front of the net, but it hit Carolina defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s skate and found the net past goaltender Frederik Andersen (21 saves) at 12:57.
“It feels unreal,” Protas said. “I had real good chances created by Ovi and [center Evgeny Kuznetsov] in first period so just couldn’t get in. So I just tried to put the puck in the net and try to play a little more simple, and it got in. It’s unreal feeling.”
Protas is the sixth Capitals player to score his first NHL goal this season.
Eller in, Sprong out
Center Lars Eller returned to the lineup after he missed six games following a positive test for the coronavirus. Eller, who is vaccinated, had to spend 10 days in isolation in an Anaheim, Calif., hotel room after he tested positive Nov. 15. He had mild symptoms for the first three days of isolation but said by the fourth day he was feeling better.
Eller was Washington’s second-line center Sunday and finished with 15:48 of ice time. His turnover at the blue line led to Niederreiter’s tying goal.
With Eller’s return, Daniel Sprong was a healthy scratch for the second time this season. He had no goals and one assist in his previous six games.
Laviolette chose to keep Connor McMichael in the lineup and left the fourth line of recent American Hockey League call-ups Beck Malenstyn, Michael Sgarbossa and Brett Leason intact, having called their play “excellent” in the previous two games. Conor Sheary remains out with an upper-body injury and has not played in the past four games, but he traveled for this two-game road trip.
Schultz to IR
The Capitals placed defenseman Justin Schultz on injured reserve to make room for Eller on the active roster. Schultz suffered an upper-body injury during Wednesday’s win over Montreal. This is the first time all season that Washington has dealt with a significant injury to its blue line.
Schultz is eligible to be activated for the Capitals’ game against Chicago on Thursday.
