RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov pounced on a loose faceoff puck for his sixth postseason goal while Frederik Andersen had 21 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Svechnikov sprang into the circle to beat John Carlson to the puck and beat Logan Thompson at 12:34 of the second for the game’s first goal in what turned out to be the start of Carolina’s game-seizing surge.
And Andersen bought time for the Hurricanes to find that groove after a strong start by the Capitals, on the way to posting his first postseason shutout for Carolina and the franchise's first in three years.
“Clearly that was the key to our win tonight, was that first period where clearly they were on their game and we were a little on our heels,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That's what goaltending does. It keeps us in the game. And then I thought we got to it in that second half of the game.
"But it could've been a lot different if we're chasing it.”
Jack Roslovic added a power-play goal late in the second period for the Hurricanes, while Eric Robinson charged up the left side to beat Thompson early in the third to make it 3-0.
Jackson Blake added a clinching power-play finish near the post late as the Hurricanes improved to 4-0 at home in the playoffs.
“It's pretty obvious when we're not playing it and maybe trying to do something different or do too much," Robinson said. "So yeah, we just got to our game.”
The Hurricanes dominated play in the series opener but needed Jaccob Slavin's overtime goal to push through on the road. The Capitals did a better job of countering in Game 2 and tied the series behind a strong two-way effort from Tom Wilson.
The Capitals seemingly had reversed the script on Carolina with a strong start, which included Andersen having to stand up to an immediate skating-in chance by Wilson and an early shot from Taylor Raddysh while the Hurricanes struggled to get on their aggressive game.
Thompson finished with 24 saves for Washington, while the Capitals managed just 10 shots in the final 39+ minutes.
“Whenever we're playing from behind, it's not a good recipe for our group,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. "Like, we just don't have the firepower that can snap it around, we're going to be able to score five or six goals. It's just not our makeup.
“So once we start to trail, we start to press and then you see some uncharacteristic things. We can't some string some plays together and it gets a little sloppy.”
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Raleigh.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Aaron Beard, The Associated Press
