Washington Capitals Rally in Third Period to Defeat Hurricanes

It was a third period storm surge from the opposition that was the difference on Thursday night in Raleigh as the Washington Capitals overcame a 2-1 third period deficit.

The Washington Capitals scored two unanswered goals in the third period from Jakub Vrana and Nic Dowd as they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The win not only swept a home-and-home set but also the season series. The Capitals won Tuesday’s meeting in D.C. by a final of 4-1.

With this win it’s now official. The Capitals will get a chance to defend their Stanley Cup this spring. They are headed back to the playoffs. It is their 11th playoff berth in the last 12 years as well as their fifth consecutive trip to the postseason. It is also their fifth consecutive season posting 100 points. The Capitals (46-24-8) are five points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders with four games to play

The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead with Nino Niederreiter‘s 22nd goal of the season. The goal came at 4:31 and Justin Williams and Sebastian Aho had the assists. That lead only lasted for 42 seconds.

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The Capitals would tie it almost immediately at 5:13. After Brooks Orpik gave Brett Connolly a pass from near the boards, Connolly raced up the ice with the puck. As he faked out a diving Trevor van Riemsdyk, Connolly paused and fired the puck at the proper split second past Hurricanes netmidner Curtis McElhinney for his 2nd goal of the season.

Connolly has enjoyed a career resurgence in Washington. His 22 goals tie him with Tom Wilson for the the third-most goals on the Capitals. 1-1 would be the score after 20 with Washington having the edge in shots 7-5.

The Hurricanes took the lead 2-1 at 12:30 in the second period with a goal from Warren Foegele. That would be the score at the end of two with Carolina having the 11-9 edge in shots.

But the Capitals showed why they are entering this spring as the defending Stanley Cup champions. First they tied it 1:35 into the third period with a backhanded goal from Vrana. Pinpoint passing from Christian Djoos to Evgney Kuznetsov, the latter finding Vrana down the ice. V used his speed for the backhanded finish for his 23rd goal of the season. He’s tied with T.J. Oshie, who missed Thursday night’s game due to an illness, for the second-most goals on the Capitals.

The game winner came via a college connection former St. Cloud State University teammates Nick Jensen and Nick Dowd connected for the game-winning goal. Jensen shot the puck and Dowd was there to deflect it in with 4:56 to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. It was Dowd’s seventh goal of the season. Dowd and Jensen have never played in a playoff game in their NHL career. They get their first taste of Stanley Cup playoff action this spring.

Braden Holtby got the win, his third in a row, stopping 24-of-26 shots for a .923 save percentage. Holtby kept the Capitals in the game and helped fend off all 10 shots he faced in the third period to keep them in striking distance to complete the rally. The Hurricanes outshot the Capitals 10-4 in the third period and 26-20 overall.

The Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning this Saturday for the third and final time in the regular season. It concludes a stretch where the teams had seen each other three times in 14 days. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.