RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov pounced on a loose faceoff puck for his sixth postseason goal while Frederik Andersen had 21 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Svechnikov sprang into the circle to beat John Carlson to the puck and beat Logan Thompson at 12:34 of the second for the game’s first goal in what turned out to be the start of Carolina’s game-seizing surge.
Jack Roslovic added a power-play goal late in the second period for the Hurricanes, while Eric Robinson charged up the left side to beat Thompson early in the third to make it 3-0.
Jackson Blake added a clinching power-play finish near the post late as the Hurricanes improved to 4-0 at home in the playoffs.
The Hurricanes dominated play in the series opener but needed Jaccob Slavin’s overtime goal to push through on the road. The Capitals did a better job of countering in Game 2 and tied the series behind a strong two-way effort from Tom Wilson.
The Capitals seemingly had reversed the script on Carolina with a strong start, which included Andersen having to stand up to an immediate skating-in chance by Wilson and an early shot from Taylor Raddysh while the Hurricanes struggled to get on their aggressive game.
And Andersen was strong throughout — carrying the load until the Hurricanes finally asserted control once Svechnikov broke the scoreless tie. In fact, Washington managed just one shot through 14 critical minutes of the second, spanning Svechnikov’s score and before to Roslovic’s man-advantage finish.
Thompson finished with 24 saves for Washington, while the Capitals managed just 10 shots in the final 39+ minutes.
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Raleigh.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Aaron Beard, The Associated Press
