Washington Capitals Take Game 1 Over Carolina Hurricanes 4-2

The Washington Capitals picked up where they left off from last season’s Stanley Cup run with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Three of those four Washington Capitals goals came in the opening 20 minutes. The first two of those were from Nicklas Backstrom. Alex Ovechkin capped it off to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead after the game’s first 20 minutes. Two of the three came on the power play. They let the Carolina Hurricanes back in it with two third period goals from Andrei Svechnikov before Lars Eller‘s empty net goal sealed it.

With the win, the Capitals improve their record to 28-20 all-time in Game 1’s including 19-11 at home. Braden Holtby stopped 27-of-29 for a .931 save percentage. Holtby had a busy night as Carolina outshot Washington 29-18, probably a byproduct of the relaxed hockey the Capitals played after going up 3-0 in the game’s first 20 minutes.

Backstrom struck first at 9:58 for the first goal of the series. He simply flew down the ice and unleashed a cold blooded shot past Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek‘s left shoulder. Backstrom just needd one more for the big 100.

Three minutes and 12 seconds later Backstrom did it again. First the Capitals went to the power play at 12:32 when Justin Faulk was whistled for high-sticking Ovechkin. On the attack, John Carlson fed the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov. Backstrom was camped in front of the net and took a pass from Kuznetsov right there to bang it home and make it 2-0. The goal was Backstrom’s 100th playoff point (33 goals, 67 assists), making him one of 95 players in NHL history with 100 points including one among 11 active players.

At 16:31 Michael Ferland was called for interference against Matt Niskanen, putting the Capitals back on the power play attack. That was when Ovechkin struck with 1:55 left in the first to make it 3-0. Ovechkin‘s PPG wasn’t your ordinary “Ovechkin Office PPG”. Ovechkin pounced on a rebound. It was Ovechin‘s 62nd playoff goal in 122 career games, tying Bobby Hull for 27th on the NHL’s all-time list.

A big key to the Capitals chances of success at a repeat is to perform well on the man-advantage. Last spring they finished with a 29.3 power play success percentage, which according to the team is the fourth-highest by a team in a single playoffs since the league started tracking the stat in the 1977-78 season. The power play finished 12th in the NHL in the 2018-19 regular season with a 20.8 power play percentage.

More from Capitals News

• Breaking down the Rookie Camp roster
• Hear what Magic Johnson said about Alex Ovechkin
• Capitals announce Rookie Camp schedule
• Breaking down the 2023-24 Capitals national TV schedule
• Capitals Alumni Weekend is coming back

3-0 was the score heading into both the first and second intermission. The Capitals were outshot not just the entire game but all three periods: 10-9 in the first, 11-4 in the second, and 8-5 in the third. Svechnikov got the Hurricanes on board at 5:07 in the third. Then Svechnikov scored again 2:19 later to pull the Hurricanes within one. Then the Capitals were in bit of a scare getting called for two penalties. First it was Jakub Vrana hooking Dougie Hamilton  at 11:14 and T.J. Oshie high-sticking Sebastian Aho at 16:29. The Capitals killed both late-game Hurricanes power plays and Eller sealed the 4-2 victory with an empty netter.

“Special teams are a huge part of the game and in the third, (we had) some really big kills and outstanding commitment, blocking shots, some good saves by Braden (Holtby) as well. That was a really important part of the game. (We) Finished up a pretty good sequence of five-on-six as well, which is just like penalty kill. Strong effort from those guys in the third,” said Capitals coach Todd Reirden after the game.

The Capitals fans were energetic throughout the night, even during the late-game push from Carolina. All the stars were out too. Washington Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton got the festivities started with the “Let’s go Caps!” chants.

Washington Wizards guards John Wall and Bradley Beal as well as head coach Scott Brooks were also in attendance. While there won’t be playoff basketball in the District, everybody is getting behind the hockey team in the hopes of doing it again. Wall, Beal and the Wizards hope to go in the right direction and someday have the success the Capitals are having. They can take a step in that direction this summer with the draft.

https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/1116522488333307904

Also check out Beal doing the Kuzy bird celly! He’s inspired.

https://twitter.com/NBCSCapitals/status/1116531598118260736

The Capitals and the Hurricanes continue the series Saturday afternoon for Game 2. Puck drop from Capital One Arena is at 3 p.m.