This is not the time of year to go cold and the Carolina Hurricanes are doing just that.
The Canes lost to the visiting Washington Capitals Wednesday night, 3-2, and now are just one point up on the Montreal Canadiens, who lost Thursday, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who defeated the Habs.
Jakub Vrana had a goal for the Capitals – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“It hurts tons, I mean obviously it was a tough loss,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “The guys are devastated in there, they know what is at stake. I thought they gave everything they had. We will regroup tomorrow and come back at it. If we play like that for the remaining games, we will be in good shape.”
The Caps struck twice in the third period to erase a 2-1 deficit and take the game.
The win clinched a playoff berth for the Caps.
“It’s awesome, we’re so excited,” Capitals forward Jakub Vrana said. “It’s going to be great to be in a playoff spot again.”
Braden Holtby made 24 saves to get the win.
“The more you play, the more you realize seeding doesn’t matter,” Capitals goalie Holtby said. “Your goal is to make the playoffs. We’re supposed to make the playoffs; maybe we take it a bit for granted. We’ve been lucky to have good teams. Every team is close.”
Nic Dowd picked up the game-winner in the third and Vrana and Brett Connolly also scored for the Caps.
“We need [Holtby] to be playing at a high level, and he’s extremely focused right now,” Connolly said. “You don’t get opportunities with a good team like this very often. He’s locked in and it’s good to see because he was obviously a big part of us winning the Cup last year.”
Nino Niederreiter and Warren Foegele scored for the Canes.
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Curtis McElhinney made 17 saves in the loss.
“Just a play here and there and we win that game. It definitely stings, but there’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to come back with a positive mindset that we’re just going to keep pushing forward. We’re in a good spot and we’ve got to remember that,” the Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook said after the loss.
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