NHL

Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes

· National Hockey League
Final
1 - 5

Ovechkin scores again, but the Hurricanes beat the Capitals to clinch a playoff spot

Alex Ovechkin now 3 goals away from breaking Gretzky's record

Logan Stankoven, Seth Jarvis and Sean Walker also scored for the Hurricanes, who qualified for the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season. That matches a franchise record.

Frederik Andersen stopped 20 of 21 shots to win his seventh straight start for Carolina.

Ovechkin beat Andersen with a one-timer with Washington on a 5-on-3 power play with 34.5 seconds left in the second to cut Carolina's lead to 4-1. Ovechkin has 17 goals in the past 25 games and has 39 this season.

Washington goalie Logan Thompson gave up three goals in the first before he left the game at intermission with an upper-body injury and was replaced by Charlie Lindgren, who made 17 saves.

Takeaways Capitals: Washington looked like a team playing the second half of a back to back with a playoff spot already secured and little, other than Ovechkin’s chase, to play for. Thompson’s health late in an impressive season is a bigger concern, over the last seven games, than winning the Presidents' Trophy.

Hurricanes: Jarvis’ power-play goal in the first was his 30th of the season. He has posted back-to-back 30-goal seasons. Blake has three goals in three games after one in his previous 25.

Key moment Jarvis' one-timer on the power play at 13:21 in the first period gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead and looked like an homage to Ovechkin and his signature scoring stroke from the left faceoff circle.

Key stat There were 142 penalty minutes doled out, including 122 in the third period as post-whistle antics and fights ratcheted up and the game got out of hand.

Up Next The Capitals host Chicago on Friday while the Hurricanes visit Detroit the same night.

Regular Season Series

CAR leads series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 6:14 Sean Walker Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: none
Goal 1st Period 10:11 Jackson Blake Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Taylor Hall (22), Shayne Gostisbehere (35)
Goal 1st Period 13:21 Seth Jarvis Goal (30) Slap Shot, assists: Shayne Gostisbehere (36), Sebastian Aho (42)
Goal 2nd Period 9:27 Logan Stankoven Goal (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Jack Roslovic (15)
Goal 2nd Period 19:25 Alex Ovechkin Goal (39) Slap Shot, assists: Jakob Chychrun (27), Dylan Strome (49)
Goal 3rd Period 6:55 Jackson Blake Goal (14) Backhand, assists: Seth Jarvis (30)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/car.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCAR
14 Blocked Shots 12
35 Hits 15
7 Takeaways 1
21 Shots 31
1 Power Play Goals 3
4 Power Play Opportunities 8
25.0 Power Play Percentage 37.5
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
28 Faceoffs Won 29
49.1 Faceoff Win Percent 50.9
17 Giveaways 17
18 Total Penalties 15
74 Penalty Minutes 68
Carolina Hurricanes Carolina Hurricanes Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jordan Staal, C Day-To-Day Apr 3
Andrei Svechnikov, RW Day-To-Day Apr 2
Jesper Fast, RW Injured Reserve Oct 9
Washington Capitals Washington Capitals Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Matt Roy, D Day-To-Day Apr 3
Logan Thompson, G Day-To-Day Apr 2

Game Information

Lenovo Center

Location: Raleigh, NC
Attendance: 18,908 | Capacity:

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Washington 48 18 105 9
Carolina 46 24 96 4
New Jersey 40 29 87 7
NY Rangers 36 32 79 7
Columbus 34 30 77 9
NY Islanders 32 32 74 10
Pittsburgh 30 34 71 11
Philadelphia 31 36 71 9
Full Standings