Early saves guide Caps
RALEIGH, N.C.
Ilya Samsonov isn’t playing like a rookie. He isn’t playing like a backup, either.
Samsonov made 18 of his 38 saves in the first period, and the Washington Capitals edged the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Friday night.
“We allowed them to get the momentum, and he was really, really sharp, definitely the difference-maker tonight,” Washington coach Todd Reirden said.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who had dropped two in a row. Richard Panik and Jakub Vrana also scored.
Washington led 4-1 early in the third period before Carolina rallied on power-play goals by Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Dzingel. Samsonov stopped Warren Foegele late in the game to preserve the win.
Jordan Staal also scored for Carolina (24-15-2), which dropped to 2-1-0 on its sevengame homestand.
“It seems like every time we play them that is pretty much how the games go, pretty tight, lots of scoring chances,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But ... we just didn’t find a way to pull it out.”
The NHL-leading Capitals (28-9-5) had dropped their last four games against the Hurricanes dating to Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.
After Carolina posted a 6-4 win over the Capitals on Dec. 28, Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele confirmed the series had developed into a rivalry, saying: “We don’t like them. They don’t like us.”
Samsonov helped Washington break through against the Hurricanes. He is the Capitals’ No. 2 goaltender behind Braden Holtby, who is an NHL All-Star for the fifth straight season.
But like Holtby, Samsonov has been outstanding this season, and he entered as the first goalie in NHL history to open his career with wins in his first seven road games in the same season. He is 11-2-1 overall.
“Both of our goalies play unbelievable hockey,” Kuznetsov said. “It’s not easy to be behind Holts, but I think at the same time he has learned a lot from Holts.”
Samsonov seemed unfazed by the 41 shots he faced and the 18 saves he needed to make in the first period.
“I like it,” he said. “I like a lot of shots at my net. It’s a hard game, a good win.” STARS 4, RED WINGS 1
DALLAS — Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist, and the Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Red Wings for their fourth straight come-from-behind win.
Pavelski was honoured before the game for playing in his 1,000th NHL game last month, and then showed why he has lasted so long in the league.
He assisted on Roope Hintz’s tying goal in the first period and added the Stars’ third goal in the second. He had an apparent goal disallowed in the third because of goalie interference.
Radek Faksa and Andrej Sekera also scored for Dallas. Esa Lindell had three assists.
The Stars rallied to win four consecutive games for the fourth time in franchise history, also accomplishing the feat twice during the 2005-06 season and once during the 2007-08 season.
Dylan Larkin scored his 10th goal for Detroit. Jonathan Bernier finished with 23 saves in his first start since he beat San Jose 2-0 on Tuesday night for his first shutout of the season.
Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin had 22 stops.
Dallas (24-14-4) moved into a tie for second in the Central Division with idle Colorado, trailing only St. Louis with 58 points.
The Red Wings (10-29-3) have an NHL-low 23 points.