It was a familiar story for Canes fans: another 3-0 lead squandered, this time in overtime against their division rivals, the Washington Capitals.
In their third face-off this season, the Hurricanes (33-15-6) and the Capitals (27-22-7) fought hard for the win, each team having won a previous game. The Capitals sit on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in, while the Canes are tied for first in the Eastern Conference. Early in the game, the Canes looked the part of a cup contender, but that dynamic shifted late.
To open the score sheet, Carolina left wing Mark Jankowski put one in the net of Washington goaltender Clay Stevenson. As a scuffle of red and white finally subsided near the Capitals’ net, the puck was acquired by center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who shot it towards the goal. Left wing William Carrier caught it in his glove, dropped it to the ice and passed it to Jankowski, who curled the puck in to give the Canes the lead.
Five minutes later, Carolina took even further command as center Sebastian Aho scored, unassisted. He blocked an attempted shot from the Capitals’ side, turned it around and shot it past Stevenson to give Carolina a 2-0 lead.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere took advantage just five minutes into the second frame to give Carolina a 3-0 lead. At center ice, Canes center Jordan Staal pickpocketed the Capitals and passed it back to left wing Jordan Martinook. The left winger then passed it to Gostisbehere, who was waiting behind the face-off circle to the right of the goal. At a near-impossible angle, the puck was shot into the upper-left corner of the net.
Down by three goals with only 25 minutes remaining, the Capitals responded. In the latter half of the second period, centers Hendrix Lapierre and Dylan Strome quickly scored two goals in quick succession to put the pressure on the Canes, evading netminder Frederik Andersen.
Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun tied the game with help from center Aliaksei Protas and right wing Tom Wilson, getting the puck past three Hurricanes defenders and Andersen.
The rest of the third period remained goalless, sending the game into overtime. Coming into the game with a 9-5 overtime record this season, Carolina had confidence to close out the contest despite squandering a three-goal lead.
But two minutes into the added five, it came apart for the Canes. Defenseman John Carlson fired the puck at the net with a cluster of Carolina jerseys surrounding Andersen. The puck leaked through towards the far side, giving right wing Justin Sourdif a wide-open look at the net to bury the puck and end the game.
In one of their final games before the Olympic break, the Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Los Angeles Kings Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. on Feb. 1 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.