RALEIGH, N.C. — Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding purpose within the shootout to steer the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday evening.
Martin Fehervary scored for the Capitals whereas Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves and stopped all three makes an attempt within the shootout.
Washington improved to 5-0 on the season within the second recreation of back-to-back units.
“We’ve been in a few of these now of just grinding our way through where you can tell fatigue is a factor,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery mentioned. “The penalty kill stepped up big. (Kuemper) was excellent. He made some massive saves for us and we found a way to win.”
The Capitals have earned at the least some extent in 5 of their previous six video games. They’ve been in a position to piece collectively factors with out quite a lot of manufacturing from star Alex Ovechkin, who hasn’t scored since Nov. 18.
“Structurally, we’re playing well,” Tom Wilson mentioned. “It’s not always about winning games 6-5 and 7-4 and all that. We’re playing good and we feel good about our game. The goals will come.”
Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, who misplaced their second straight recreation. Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov made 20 saves.
Both goalies had been sharp early. Kochetkov stopped Wilson on a short-handed breakaway with 1:42 left within the first interval. Kuemper robbed Jalen Chatfield early within the second interval on a primary scoring probability.
Aho broke by means of for the sport’s first purpose on a feed from Seth Jarvis. Aho completed a shot from the slot at 7:41 within the second for the 1-0 lead.
Fehervary evened it at 1-1 at 11:33 within the second after a lead cross from Wilson. Fehervary was alone within the slot and beat Kochetkov to the glove aspect.
“I saw an opportunity to join the rush,” Fehervary mentioned. “I was open. I saw that they were cutting off (Ovechkin), not surprised, so I just shot it and it went in.”
Kochetkov began for the fifth time in seven video games after the Hurricanes assigned veteran goalie Antti Raanta to Chicago within the AHL on Sunday.
Raanta, whose .854 save share ranks final within the NHL, was waived on Saturday however went unclaimed. Yaniv Perets, an undrafted rookie, was referred to as up from Norfolk within the ECHL to function the backup.
Since a four-game shedding streak in early December, the Hurricanes have earned some extent in 4 straight (2-0-2).
“We did everything we wanted to do, just didn’t score,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour mentioned. “I thought we stuck with our gameplan really well and hit a few goalposts. Couple of inches here or there and it would have been a much different story.”
The Hurricanes completed 0 for five on the ability play. Brady Skjei had a power-play purpose disallowed throughout a four-minute alternative within the first interval when Stefan Noesen was dominated to be within the crease.
“The penalty kill has been giving us life all year,” Kuemper mentioned. “To get a big four-minute kill to start the game like that, it kinda sets the tone for everybody else and everybody else feeds off of it.”
UP NEXT
Capitals: Host the New York Islanders on Wednesday evening.
Hurricanes: Host Vegas on Tuesday evening.
