Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals begin their Stanley Cup defense at home against the Carolina Hurricanes, and the start of the game would see the Capitals weather the storm from the Hurricanes for the first half of the period followed by Nicklas Backstrom going top shelf on Petr Mrazek on the first shot of the game for the Capitals to make it 1-0. Then Justin Faulk would be called for high sticking, and on the powerplay Evgeny Kuznetsov would do a beautiful pass across to slot to Backstrom for his second of the game. The Hurricanes would not do themselves any favors though as Micheal Ferland would be called for interference and with a mad scramble Alex Ovechkin would net his first of the playoffs to make it 3-0 goinf into the first intermission.
In the second period both teams would trade scoring opportunities, and some penalties as well. While the Capitals would kill their lone penalty early in the period, Carolina would give the Capitals two more powerplay opportunities. However, this time the Hurricanes would keep the Capitals off the score board while on the penalty kill.
In the third period the Capitals would get some really good scoring opportunities to start the period, but Petr Mrazek would stand tall to keep the deficit to three. Then Andrei Svechnikov would score back to back goals to cut the Capitals lead to one in a span of two minutes and nineteen seconds. The Capitals would then get themselves into penalty problems, but would successfully kill both penalties. Then Lars Eller would score the empty netter to seal the deal for the Capitaks as they take the 1-0 series lead.
Lineups:
Carolina Hurricanes:
Nino Niederreiter — Sebastian Aho — Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland — Jordan Staal — Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov — Jordan Martinook — Brock McGinn
Greg McKegg — Lucas Wallmark — Warren Foegele
Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Saku Maenalanen, Jake Bean
Injured: Calvin de Haan (upper body)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Nic Dowd — Chandler Stephenson
John Carlson — Nick Jensen
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Christian Djoos
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Jonas Siegenthaler, Travis Boyd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Ilya Samsonov
Injured: Michal Kempny (torn left hamstring)
First Period:
Capitals Goal – 9:58 – Nicklas Backstrom (1) from John Carlson (1) and Brooks Orpik (1)
Hurricanes Penalty – 12:32 – Justin Faulk 2 minutes for High Sticking
Capitals PPG – 13:10 – Nicklas Backstrom (2) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) and John Carlson (2)
Hurricanes Penalty – 16:31 – Micheal Ferland 2 minutes for Interference
Capitals PPG – 18:05 – Alex Ovechkin (1) from Tom Wilson (1) and John Carlson (3)
End of 1st – CAR – 0 WAS – 3
Shots 10 09
Faceoffs 13 09
Hits 21 18
PP 0/0 2/2
Second Period:
Hurricanes Penalty – 1:46 – Andrei Svechnikov 2 minutes for Hooking
Capitals Penalty – 4:07 – Bench (Alex Ovechkin) 2 minutes for Too Many Men
Hurricanes Penalty – 13:05 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Holding the Stick
End of 2nd – CAR – 0 WAS – 3
Shots 21 13
Faceoffs 23 21
Hits 32 27
PP 0/1 2/4
Third Period:
Hurricanes Goal – 5:07 – Andrei Svechnikov (1) from Lucas Wallmark (1) and Dougie Hamilton (1)
Hurricanes Goal – 7:26 – Andrei Svechnikov (2) from Lucas Wallmark (2) and Justin Faulk (1)
Capitals Penalty – 11:14 – Jakub Vrana 2 minutes for Hooking
Capitals Penalty – 16:29 – TJ Oshie 2 minutes for High Sticking
Capitals ENG – 19:24 – Lars Eller (1) from unassisted
End of 3rd – CAR – 2 WAS – 4
Shots 29 18
Faceoffs 39 28
Hits 37 35
PP 0/3 2/4
Next Up:
Game Two – Capitals Leads Series 1-0
