WASHINGTON, D.C. — The last time the Hurricanes played the Capitals in a playoff game, they won in overtime at Capital One Arena.
Why ruin a good thing?
Jaccob Slavin’s point shot early in overtime snuck past Washington goalie Logan Thompson to give Carolina a come-from-behind 2-1 win in Tuesday’s Game 1 of their second round series in Washington, D.C.
Jordan Martinook wheeled the puck up the boards to Slavin on his off side at the right point. His half-slap shot made it through traffic and went between teammate Seth Jarvis’ legs before beating Thompson at 3:06 of overtime.
“I knew we had some numbers at the net, and I didn’t know it went in until I saw Jordan Staal coming with his arms up yelling at me,” Slavin said of his second goal of the postseason.
The Hurricanes needed to be patient on a night when they dominated play but found themselves down 1-0 as the midway point of the third period approached. Carolina hit the post five times behind Thompson (31 saves) and tried his glove several times without success.
A Washington turnover allowed the Hurricanes to dent the Washington goalie instead, and Logan Stankoven cashed in with his third goal of the postseason to tie the game 1-1 at 9:42 of the third.
Aliaksei Protas, the Capitals’ goal scorer, got the puck in the defensive zone but passed it into Alex Alexeyev’s feet. Jesperi Kotkaniemi took possession and passed to Stankoven between the hash marks, and the Carolina rookie snapped a shot past Thompson’s glove for his third goal of the playoffs.
“I think just a great play by KK there to get the puck to me,” Stankoven said. “Their defenseman was kind of taking away the pass to (Taylor Hall), so I just thought I’d rip it, and it was nice to see it go in.”
“Stank did a hell of a shot there and put the puck in,” Kotkaniemi added.
It rewarded the Hurricanes on a night when they pelted the Capitals with 94 all-situations shot attempts, including a 79-25 advantage at 5-on-5. Washington managed 14 shots on goal to Carolina’s 33.
“We played well,” Slavin said. “We were all over it, and we knew we had to just throw everything at the net. That mentality paid off there at the end.”
Despite being dominated in the first period, the Capitals jumped ahead early in the second.
After Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere failed to keep a puck in at the Capitals blue line, Protas led an odd-man rush up ice. The Washington forward skated up the wing and called his own number, shooting from the top of the right circle and beating Frederik Andersen (13 saves) to the far side for a 1-0 Capitals lead at 3:53 of the second period.
But that was the only goal that got by Andersen, who missed Carolina’s series-clinching Game 5 win over the Devils in the first round after being knocked out Game 4 following a collision with New Jersey forward Timo Meier.
“It sucks to sit out any time, especially in the playoffs when you have a chance to clinch at home,” Andersen said of missing Game 5 in Raleigh. “That sucks to watch from up top. The guys did a good job just battling back in that game, and to obviously take the first step here was nice.”
The win stripped the Capitals of home-ice advantage in the series and had the Eastern Conference’s top seed looking for answers.
“There’s enough experience in this group,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. “It’s one game. I don’t think anyone expected the playoffs just to be a straight line of ups. There’s going to be ups and downs.
“The next game’s the biggest game.”
Notes: Hurricanes center Mark Jankowski left the game with five minutes left in the second period and did not return. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said he didn’t have an update but didn’t believe the injury was serious. … Carolina outhit Washington 44-30, led by seven from William Carrier.
