Carolina lays a pounding on Capitals
Return to PNC Arena brings a big momentum shift for Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C.— The Carolina Hurricanes needed a few heroes.
They needed their crowd being loud. More than anything, the Canes needed an NHL playoff victory over the Washington Capitals.
This night, it all came together for the Canes in a 5-0 victory in Game 3 as the series shifted to PNC Arena and the momentum shifted after the Caps, the defending Stanley Cup champions, won the first two games.
Canes rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov left the game with an injury, battered in a fight with the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin, but Warren Foegele and Dougie Hamilton — two of Svechnikov’s best friends on the team — took it from there.
Foegele, active and inspired, and Hamilton each scored twice and Foegele added an assist as the Canes won their first playoff game at home since 2009. Hamilton scored on power plays in the second and third periods as the sellout crowd of 18,783, which included NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, rumbled from start to finish. When Brock McGinn, who had a goal and assist, scored in the third, it was 5-0. Canes fans were hoarse but still loud enough.
Goalie Petr Mrazek earned his fourth career playoff shutout and had little work as the aggressive Canes kept the puck much of the game, limiting the Caps to15 shots. The Canes outshot the Caps 45-15.
The Canes again lifted their sticks and took a bow after the game. The crowd roared again.
Hamilton’s first score highlighted a dominating second period in which the Canes limited the Caps to one shot and at times had the defending champs rattled and making mistakes. The Caps were the poised, patient team in the first two games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, winning 4-2 and then 4-3 in overtime at Capital One Arena for a 2-0 series lead in the bestof-seven series.
But the Canes were the better team this night in all three zones and will go into Game 4 on Thursday at PNC Arena looking to even things.
Svechnikov’s departure was a downer for Canes fans, coming after forward Micheal Ferland left with an upper-body injury. The Russian dropped the gloves and challenged the 6-3, 235-pound Ovechkin in front of the Caps net, trading blows in a short but brutal fight. Ovechkin landed the heaviest punches, dropping Svechnikov with what appeared to be a knockout punch and then falling on him.
Svechnikov was helped off the ice, but his injury incensed Canes fans and appeared to further rev up the Canes players, who came at the Caps with a fury.
Before the fight, at 10:59 of the first, Foegele went to the front of the net and didn’t leave until he scored, giving the Canes a1-0 lead — Carolina’s first lead of the series. Defenceman Justin Faulk got off an outside shot, the puck hitting Foegele in front of goalie Braden Holtby, who saw a lot of shots Thursday.
In the second period, it was Foegele again. On a rush into the Caps zone, Sebastian Aho waited for defenceman Matt Niskanen go down, then found Foegele open in front of the net, Foegele again beating Holtby.
By that point, the Canes were landing bodychecks all over the ice.