Capitals get crushed by Hurricanes 6-1

There was no way this Washington Capitals team was going to sweep the first place Carolina Hurricanes this season. And the bunch of jerks got their first win against the Caps in four tries on Monday night at Capital One Arena in a 6-1 rout.

Derek Stepan got things started at 2:41. Martin Necas doubled the lead at 7:47. 2-0 was the score after one with the Canes leading in shots 10-5.

In the second period the Caps outshot the Canes 15-13 and would get back in the game on a Tom Wilson goal that he rebounded in front of the net for his 21st of the season at 6:47. That was the closest they would ever get.

Sebastian Aho scored while the Hurricanes were shorthanded at 8:35 then Brett Pesce added one at 10:38. Martin Necas made it 5-1 at 15:39.

Brady Skejei capped off the scoring at 9:57. Shots were shockingly even in the third period at six apiece. The Hurricanes outshot the Caps 29-26 overall. Vitek Vanecek got the start and made 18 saves on 23 shots before getting pulled after the second period. Ilya Samsonov came in for they third and stopped five out of six shots.

Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette put the loss this way:

“It wasn’t good; they outdid us in the first period.”

Garnet Hathaway talked about the latest home ice struggles:

“A part of it is the mindset we have…If you look, we have a really good road record. So it’s trying to figure out, not what we’re doing wrong here, but what we’re doing right on the road and how to translate that to do it at home.”

The Caps will get a break and they’ll need it with a tough stretch of games before a lengthy road trip just before the regular season ends. Their next game is at home on Sunday night against the Minnesota Wild.