Through the first four games of their series against the Washington Capitals, the Carolina Hurricanes haven’t given up more than nine shots on goal in a single period. A deafening defensive effort led by goaltender Frederik Andersen has stifled the second-best scoring team in the regular season.
When the Canes did give up goals tonight, left wing Taylor Hall and defenseman Sean Walker both tallied a goal less than five minutes later to maintain a Carolina two-goal lead. Hall and Walker were the only two Canes players to record a multi-point night in Game 4.
“Those are huge plays, you need those plays,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Finishing your chances at a crucial time in the game, that’s the difference. Both those goals were huge.”
Often, during the regular season, the Canes have gone down a goal early, putting themselves in a hole they have to dig out of for the remainder of the game. Over the past four games, the Canes haven’t given up a single goal in the first period — largely due to the man in net.
“It’s just so apparent the confidence that he is giving us,” Walker said. “We can play a lot more aggressive. Mistakes are going to happen but he is bailing us out a ton. Just going out there every night, knowing that he’s back there, he’s playing unbelievable really.”
Andersen’s near-perfect play — especially in the opening 20 minutes — has allowed the Canes to settle in and has played a big part in each of the three wins this series. Andersen leads all goaltenders in the playoffs with a 0.935 save percentage and 1.41 goals-against average.
For the first time in the series, someone netted a goal in the first period and it came from defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. Dancing along the blue line with the puck, Gostisbehere held onto the rubber for what felt like a lifetime before ripping a shot that beat Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson through traffic.
Following the opening goal, Carolina was down a man for most of the remainder of the period, having to kill six minutes of power play time. Like they have all postseason, the Canes’ penalty killers stepped up to hold the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
“You never want to do that, but when the time comes, everyone answered the bell really well. Your best penalty killer is always your goalie and [Andersen] played amazing again,” center Seth Jarvis said.
The Hurricanes didn’t take long to double that lead when Jarvis scored his third goal of the postseason 1:05 into the period. Jarvis followed up a shot from center Sebastian Aho that hit Thompson’s glove, then the crossbar, before Jarvis knocked it over the goal line.
Jarvis’ second-period goal ties his teammate, Aho, for most playoff points by a player age 23 or younger in franchise history. He trails only Anton Lundell of the Florida Panthers for most points in the postseason among members of the 2020 draft class.
The Capitals got a goal back 5:18 into the third when defenseman Matt Roy found his defensive partner Jakob Chychrun, alone at the back post. Three minutes later, Hall answered with a breakaway goal that restored the Canes’ two-goal cushion.
“I just got my head up and tried to look where the goalie was,” Hall said. “[The goalie] plays somewhat deep in his net, so shooting is a pretty good option. … I just picked my corner and was a good shot.”
The Hurricanes went back to the penalty kill in the third when Hall tripped Capitals center Nic Dowd, and then defenseman Dmitry Orlov took another penalty while on the kill to make it 5-on-3 for an extended period of time.
From his office, left wing Alex Ovechkin beat Andersen with a one-timer that deflected in off Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, but the Canes luckily got back to even-strength with a one-goal lead.
“There was a lot going on,” Orlov said “Almost shit myself there, you know? The boys, they didn’t allow a second one. [Left wing Jordan Martinook] also had a chance on a 2-on-1 and I was hoping he would score that to make it easier on us. It was a bad play by me taking that penalty. Just need to be smarter and not lose concentration on certain plays.”
With a little help from the boards, Walker and centers Jack Roslovic and Logan Stankoven charged up the ice for an odd-man rush that saw Walker earn his first career postseason goal.
Utilizing Roslovic charging toward the net front and taking a defender with him, Walker stopped up and ripped a shot past Thomson’s glove.
Scored at the 16:45 mark, Walker’s goal was effectively the dagger, but right wing Andrei Svechnikov made sure to twist the knife with an empty-net goal less than a minute later.
The Canes now have the Capitals on the brink of elimination, up 3-1 in the series, but know the hardest is yet to come.
“They’re desperate, everyone knows the situation,” Jarvis said. “We just got to match their desperation and up it and make sure we come ready to go because they’re going to give us their best.”
Game 5 in Washington is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
