Capitals 4, Hurricanes 3 (OT)
Mike Green scored 2:24 into overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday in their home opener.
Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich and Jason Chimera each added a tally and Michal Neuvirth made 26 saves for the Capitals, who went 25-8-8 at the Verizon Center last season.
Jussi Jokinen committed a holding penalty at the 1:29 mark in overtime and it took Washington just under a minute to capitalize on the man advantage. Holding the puck in the high slot, Green wound up and fired a slap shot between Brian Boucher’s pads for the game-winner.
The Capitals had a taken the lead in the third on the power play as well, cashing in a 5-on-3 chance with 3:45 remaining when Laich tipped in Alex Ovechkin’s shot from the doorstep to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
But Washington could not close it in the final minutes. Jokinen found the puck in the slot with 1:19 remaining and slapped it past Neuvirth, knotting it at 3-3.
Eric Staal scored two power-play goals and finished with three points for the Hurricanes.