Capitals 4, Hurricanes 2
Captain Alex Ovechkin scored to reach the 50-goal plateau for the sixth time in his career and tied the franchise mark with his 472nd tally as host Washington doubled up Carolina.
Ovechkin added an assist and defenseman Mike Green also scored and set up a goal for the Capitals, who have won six of their last eight to move within one point of second place Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division. Brooks Laich and Joel Ward scored 82 seconds apart in the second period, rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov notched two assists and Braden Holtby finished with 23 saves.
Captain Eric Staal netted his third goal in four games and Nathan Gerbe tallied in his second straight contest for the Hurricanes, who have dropped nine of their last 12 (3-5-4). Former Capital Alexander Semin recorded an assist and Cam Ward turned aside 16 shots.
After Green opened the scoring 2:46 into the first period, Ovechkin used Carolina defenseman Brett Bellemore as a screen and wristed a shot from the upper edge of the left faceoff circle that beat Ward 8 1/2 minutes later. Semin skated up the right wing and fed Gerbe in front exactly five minutes into the second to halve the deficit before an unmarked Staal scored from the doorstep at 10:33 to forge a tie.
Jason Chimera's pass from along the right-wing boards found Laich, who backhanded the puck past Ward with 2:54 remaining in the second period to give Washington a 3-2 edge. Ovechkin helped double the advantage shortly thereafter, wiring a backdoor feed that Ward deflected after putting his stick between the legs of Bellemore.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ovechkin tied Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne and Mario Lemieux by reaching the 50-goal plateau for the sixth time, while Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky both accomplished the feat on nine occasions. ... The 29-year-old Ovechkin scored his 472nd goal in just 755 career games to pull even with Peter Bondra, who required 961 contests to reach that total with the Capitals. ... Carolina C Riley Nash missed his second straight game with a concussion, which was sustained when he was hit by a puck in warmups prior to Sunday's contest versus Boston.