WASHINGTON– Despite a pair of third-period goals from rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov, the Carolina Hurricanes could not recover from an early 3-0 deficit and fell 4-2 to the Washington Capitals Thursday at Capital One Arena in game one of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series.
Svechnikov scored both of the Hurricanes’ (0-1) goals Thursday, and forward Lucas Wallmark assisted on both of them. The Canes played well in the second and third periods but could not come all the way back from a 3-0 deficit after the first period. Special teams were a major culprit, as Washington (1-0) went 2 for 4 on its power play while Carolina went 0 for 3, including on a pair of man advantages in the last nine minutes of the game with a chance to tie it.
“Guys are pretty disappointed,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We played hard; certainly don’t fault that. The execution on some of the things wasn’t great. We had a couple guys need to be better, for sure, if we’re going to beat the best team. But at the same time, that’s a positive for me that we weren’t our best and we still had a chance to win.”
The Canes entered the third period down 3-0, but some timely saves from goalie Petr Mrazek and Svechnikov’s heroics brought things within one.
The Capitals got a pair of golden chances to take a 4-0 lead early in the third period, but Mrazek came up with a pair of breakaway saves on Washington forwards Nic Dowd and Carl Hagelin.
“We opened up a little bit more than we probably would have liked but when you’re down 3-0, 3-1 that’s ok,” Brind’Amour said. “[Mrazek] kept us in the game; he gave us a chance to come back and then have a chance at the end to maybe tie it up. He was good; he made some big saves for us. Certainly not his fault on any of the goals.”
Directly after another pair of point-blank stops by Mrazek, the Canes got on the board. Playing in his first playoff game, Svechnikov powered his way down low with Capitals defenseman John Carlson draped over him, cut to the net and roofed a shot over Holtby to make it 3-1 with about 15 minutes left in the game.
“I think we played a hard game,” Svechnikov said. “We got our chance and scored a couple goals. We’ll try to focus on the next game.”
The Canes kept the pressure up after Svechnikov’s first tally, and 3:19 later, he cut the deficit to one with his second goal, one-timing a slick, cross-ice feed from forward Lucas Wallmark to make it a 3-2 game.
The Canes drew their second power play of the game with eight minutes and change to play and a chance to tie the game, but could not capitalize.
With 3:31 to play, Carolina’s man advantage got another shot after a high-sticking minor to Caps forward TJ Oshie. Brind’Amour pulled Mrazek for an extra skater with 2:26 to play to make it a two-man advantage, but the Capitals killed the penalty and Washington forward Lars Eller iced the game with an empty-net goal with 37 seconds left.
“Our special teams in general have to be better,” said forward Jordan Staal. “Obviously both PK and power play weren’t good enough. In the end, I think five on five and the rest of the game was more or less us just going and playing our game, but special teams are going to have to be better if we’re going to win some games.”
The game was a physical one right from the drop of the puck, and the Canes had good energy early but could not bury a couple grade-A chances.
The Capitals jumped in front about halfway through the period; Washington forward Nicklas Backstrom weaved his way over the blue line and into the high slot before zipping a shot over Canes goalie Petr Mrazek’s glove.
Washington’s power play increased the lead to 3-0 before the first intermission with Backstrom’s second tally and a rebound goal for forward Alex Ovechkin.
“I thought we came out pretty good,” Brind’Amour said. “I liked our first period; it’s just unfortunate we got down three. I thought we started the first 10 minutes way better than I thought it was going to be. It’s a tough game, because we did a lot of good things, but obviously special teams got us. That’s pretty much the whole story in that game.”
The Canes settled in during the second period and outhshot Washington 11-4, setting the stage for the third-period rally.
The Hurricanes and Capitals will face off for game two Saturday at 3 p.m. at Capital One Arena.
