Hurricanes 5, Capitals 0
HURRICANES 5, CAPITALS 0: Captain Eric Staal collected two goals and an assist and Justin Peters turned aside 17 shots for his first career NHL shutout as host Carolina prevented Washington from gaining a share of the Southeast Division lead with a lopsided decision.
Rookie defenseman Justin Faulk, Anthony Stewart and Andreas Nodl also tallied and Jiri Tlusty notched a pair of assists to extend his point streak to a team-high eight games. With the win, the Hurricanes improved to 5-1-2 in their last eight contests and pulled to within seven points of eighth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference.
Washington's fifth loss in six games (1-4-1) prevented it from tying Florida atop the Southeast Division. The Capitals remained two points behind the Panthers - and one in back of the Maple Leafs in the conference.
Faulk opened the scoring 3:41 into the contest after cleaning up a rebound off Tim Brent's shot from the point and beating Tomas Vokoun between his pads for his sixth goal of the season.
Stewart doubled the advantage just 88 seconds later after wristing a shot from the slot for his seventh goal of the season. That spelled an early exit for Vokoun, who was pulled at 5:09 in favor of Michael Neuvirth.
After Nodl converted a 3-on-2 rush with 30 seconds left in the first period for his first goal since Dec. 23, Staal put the game out of reach by converting a shorthanded breakaway 5:56 into the second.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Staal's 12th shorthanded career goal moved him past Dave Tippett for the franchise lead. Tippett played for the club when it was known as the Hartford Whalers. ... Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin exited the contest with six minutes remaining in the second period, but returned to start the third. ... Vokoun has struggled mightily at the RBC Center, winning just one of his last 12 starts (1-8-2).