The Washington Capitals fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a final of 5-1 on Wednesday night in Raleigh. Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner has joined team owner Ted Leonsis as many are watching and following in anticipation of The Gr8 Chase.
Caps got dominated
Sean Walker struck first for the Hurricanes at 6:14. Jackson Blake followed with a power play goal at 10:11. Then Seth Jarvis got a PPG at 13:21 to put the Caps in a 3-0 hole after one. Caps were outshot 12-5 in the opening 20.
In the second period at 9:27, Logan Stankoven made it 4-0. Alex Ovechkin would get the Caps on the board with a power play goal for his 39th of the season. It brings him now to three goals away from overtaking Wayne Gretzky for the NHL's all time scoring record.
In the goal Jakob Chychrun notched his 27th assist while Dylan Strome added his 49th goal. It came at 19:25. The second period was the best period of the night for the Caps as they outshot the Canes 12-6.
In the third period the Caps were outshot 14-4 and they were outshot 32-21 overall. Blake would add his second goal of the night on the power play at 6:55 to put a bow on the game and punch the Hurricanes ticket to the playoffs.
Carolina had the edge in face off percentage 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent. The Caps went one for four with the Ovi goal on the power play while the Hurricanes went three for eight. Caps finished with 74 penalty minutes compared to the Canes 68. That totals 142 combined penalty minutes between the teams.
The Caps also lost Logan Thompson in goal after the opening period due to an upper body injury. Charlie Lindgren came on in relief the rest of the way. Caps led in hits 35-15 and blocked shots 14-12. Each time finished with 17 giveaways. Washington had seven takeaways while Carolina had one.
Next up for the Caps is a Friday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. on NHL Network and Monumental Sports Network.