Hurricanes 4, Capitals 2
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Center Eric Staal's goal 51 seconds into the third period broke a tie and the Carolina Hurricanes went on to end the Washington Capitals' nine-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory Thursday night at PNC Arena.
Left wingers Phillip Di Giuseppe and Jeff Skinner also scored for Carolina (16-17-5), which avenged a 2-1 loss from 10 days earlier in this building. Center Andrej Nestrasil scored an empty-net goal with 17.8 seconds to play to cap the scoring.
Washington (28-7-2) has an NHL-high 28 victories, but the Capitals were unable to match the franchise record for consecutive road wins. That streak ended at six games.
Center Nicklas Backstrom scored a tying goal in the second period for the Capitals. Left winger Alex Ovechkin pulled Washington to within 3-2 with 5:44 remaining.
Goalie Eddie Lack made 30 saves for the Hurricanes while goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped 33 shots for the Capitals. Grubauer hadn't played since his 31-save performance in the previous meeting with Carolina.
Staal's goal came when Grubauer nearly recovered tom make the stop, striking the puck with his stick.
Play continued until play was stopped about 30 seconds later and the goal was awarded after video review.
The lead grew to 3-1 when Skinner took a pass from center Riley Nash, who was behind the net and deliver the puck in an ideal position.
Those goals looked easy compared to Carolina's earlier chances. It took 21 shots before the Hurricanes scored.
Di Giuseppe collected a cross-ice pass from center Joakim Nordstrom and belted a shot off Grubauer, with the puck skipping into the net.
The Capitals answered scoring on their 11th shot of the game when Backstrom converted. He skated into the offensive zone around a couple of Carolina players to unleash his scoring shot.
The puck got past Grubauer on Carolina's power play early in the second period. But before it fully crossed the goal line, defenseman Matt Niskanen fished for it and pulled it back to keep the game scoreless.
The Hurricanes had 21 of the game's first 29 shots on goal before Washington closed the second period by applying more pressure.
NOTES: This was the back end of Washington's seventh set of back-to-back games, with the Capitals entering 11-1-1 as part of those outings. ... Capitals C Michael Latta was back in the lineup after missing one game with an injury. ... At age 23, D Justin Faulk played in his 300th NHL game, all with the Hurricanes. ... Carolina G Cam Ward was the backup for the second time in three games. He made 21 saves in a 2-1 loss to Washington on Dec. 21 and also lost to the Capitals on Oct. 17. ... Washington visits Columbus on Saturday for the second game of a five-game road stretch. The Hurricanes play at home against Nashville on Saturday night.