In Raleigh, the visiting Washington Capitals entered the third period with the Carolina Hurricanes leading 2-0. The third period was a different story as the Caps had to hold off a three-goal surge from the Canes in a 4-3 win.
Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves to get the victory.
“That’s OK, I like it with the shots at my net,” Samsonov said. “It doesn’t matter where (the game) is played. I’m feeling comfortable playing at home or on the road.”
The Caps were coming off a two-game skid, both loses were in regulation.
“[Samsonov] was, no question, the first star tonight,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “His emotional control never changes. I think it allows our team to not get too derailed. He was outstanding.”
Jordan Staal started the Canes’ offense in the third period when he struck for a goal with 39 seconds gone in the frame to cut the Caps lead to 2-1.
“Seems like every time we play them that’s pretty much how the games go,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Pretty tight, lots of scoring chances. We just didn’t find a way to pull it out.”
Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Dzingel scored on the power play after Washington had pushed their lead to 4-1.
John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Lars Eller, and Richard Panik scored for the Caps.
“It’s never over,” Eller said. “They got a little bit of help with the penalties, giving them a little bit of room. All of a sudden, it’s a game again. It was a little self-inflicted for us, giving them power plays, so we lost a bit of a step there.”
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Petr Mrazek made 25 saves in the loss.
“You can’t get down 4-1 against the Capitals, that’s the bottom line,” Dzingel said. “We can’t get ourselves in that hole.”
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