*Photo from Yahoo News*
What better way to get out of a cold streak than beating a division rival? Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in the shootout to give the Washington Capitals a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday in Raleigh.
The Capitals entered the game with two straight losses as well as 5 losses in 7 games, but managed to right the ship against Carolina, now sitting at 15-9-4 and 5th in the Metropolitan Division. Goals came at a premium, which allowed Washington to keep it close with one of the league's best offenses.
After a scoreless first period, it was the Hurricanes who took the lead first. Sebastian Aho scored 7:41 into the second period, assisted by Seth Jarvis on his 12th goal of the season. At the 11:33 mark of the period, Martin Fehervary scored to tie things up for the Capitals, with Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome assisting on his first goal of the season.
Wilson said of Fehervary's goal that "Sometimes it’s the option off the puck that’s the play, and Marty kind of gave me no choice but to hit him in stride, and made a great shot. Structurally, we’re playing well. It’s not always about winning 6-5 and 7-4. We're playing good, we feel good about our game. The goals will come. The ‘D’ did a good job tonight."
It was on to the shootout after the 3rd period and overtime went without a goal. Kuznetsov scored in the first round before John Carlson failed to convert in the second for the Capitals. Aho, Jarvis, and Teuvo Teravainen all couldn't score for the Hurricanes, giving the Capitals the win.
Getting the start for the Capitals was Darcy Kuemper, who put together a strong game to get the win and improve to 7-6-2. Kuemper stopped all but one of the 29 shots he was tested with by Carolina, good for a .966 save percentage.
Starting for the Hurricanes and going save for save with Kuemper was Pyotr Kochetkov, who fell to 6-6-2 in 15 games with the shootout loss. Kochetkov made the save on all but one of the 21 shots he faced, giving him a .952 save percentage.
Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the loss that "We knew coming in exactly how it was going to go. They play tight, tight games, and I thought we stuck with our game plan really well. Hit a few goal posts. A couple inches here or there and it would have been a much different story."
The Hurricanes get back in action on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, with Kochetkov likely to start. Kuemper is the projected starter for the Capitals when they face the New York Islanders on Wednesday.
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