Carolina Hurricanes 4, Caps 3
Bruce Boudreau said postgame that while his team may not have deserved two points tonight they should have gotten two points tonight. Up 2-1 after surviving a barrage of penalties in the second period, the Caps couldn’t match some pretty good play from the Hurricanes in the third period. They did escape with a point anyway thanks to a late goal by forward Eric Fehr with just nine seconds left. But they still walk away from this one in a sour mood. Okay – as sour as you can be with the best record in the NHL. Let’s not get crazy here.
Rookie goalie Semyon Varlamov was certainly left out to dry three separate times, including on the game-winning goal in overtime when defensemen Jeff Schultz and Mike Green got crossed up and let Ray Whitney walk inside the circles all alone. And though Varlamov managed to get a piece of the puck, the Wizard isn’t missing that kind of chance. It slipped past to give Carolina the victory.
“[Varlamov] couldn’t have played that play any differently, I don’t think,” Boudreau told reporters afterwards. “It’s a slap shot from between the circles and that’s a tough one to stop. We obviously made a defensive error.”
Varlamov also faced a breakaway from Hurricanes forward Chad LaRose with just 1:35 left in the game – the goal that made it 3-2 Carolina. The first goal of the night for Carolina was a tap-in by Eric Staal on the power play. But while you can’t blame him for those three, Varlamov – definitely too hard on himself sometimes, as Comcast’s Joe Beninati mentioned afterwards – will likely stew about Brett Carson’s goal early in the third period. His glove let him down during that sequence. Varlamov finished with 25 saves on 29 shots. All in all not a bad night. At the other end of the ice, Justin Peters had a good game for the Hurricanes. He spoiled a couple of quality chances that prevented the Caps from extending their lead and stopped 25 of 28 shots on goal.
The go-ahead goal late in regulation for Carolina came during 4-on-4 play. The Caps have been pretty bad most of the year in that area – usually in overtime, as Boudreau pointed out – and it’s become a cause for concern. Caps have now allowed a league-worst 12 goals in 4-on-4 play. They’ve scored just five. No one else in the league has allowed more than nine – though that’s the San Jose Sharks, who have the NHL’s second-best record. Not sure what to make of it other than the Caps are so skilled they take chances during 4-on-4 play other teams don’t. Any other theories? At least 4-on-4 is far more rare in the playoffs thanks to regular 5-on-5 play in overtime.
“This one was in our defensive zone,” Boudreau said. “Usually it’s a play that 4-on-4 they end up with a breakaway – like they did [earlier] – where we’re getting caught because we’re trying to force the issue. I don’t know [why]. But we definitely have to smarten up.”
Give credit to Fehr, who makes as much of his ice time as any player in the league. Seeing limited special teams action and on the third line most of the season he scored goal No. 20 after a nifty pass in traffic from teammate Brendan Morrison with nine seconds to go and the net empty. Fehr played 12 minutes total – none on special teams. A questionable late timeout by Carolina coach Paul Maurice let the Caps get a rested Nicklas Backstrom back on the ice. It was his initial shot that was blocked and landed at the skates of Morrison. It wasn’t enough, though.
“We’ve got some experienced guys that didn’t play very well tonight,” Boudreau said.
Caps Notes
» Joe Corvo with a big night against his former team in his former home, the RBC Center. Scored the first two Caps goals. Those are his first with Washington. He has five points in eight games overall since the trade.
» Two more assists for Nicklas Backstrom – though he was a -1 on the night. Almost registered goal No. 30, too. Backstrom now has 29 goals and 58 assists. He is eight assists shy of his career best set last season and has 87 points overall. That’s just one shy of last year’s 88. Still with a good shot at a 100-point season with 11 games left.
» Washington is 47-14-10 with 104 points. Magic number to secure home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs is down to nine points. The most New Jersey can get is 112 if it wins them all. Pittsburgh can get to 111 if it wins its last 11.
» Assists also go to Brendan Morrison, Matt Bradley, Brooks Laich (team-high five shots) and Scott Walker. Bradley and Mike Knuble both had goals waved off. Both were legit calls – Bradley’s because the Caps had six men on the ice and Knuble because he either batted the puck in with his glove or with a high stick. Either way, not legal.
» Caps killed 4 of 5 penalties and scored on 1 of 3 power plays. Held Carolina to just 14 shots through two periods. Gave up 15 combined in the third period and overtime.
