Capitals Fall to Hurricanes in Shootout

The Washington Capitals returned home Tuesday night to play the Carolina Hurricanes after a 16-day, six-game road trip in which they clinched their fourth straight playoff berth. It also marked the return of Jason Arnott and Alex Ovechkin after the duo missed six and three games, respectively.

"Every shift, every period, I feel better and better," said Ovechkin after the game.

The scoring didn't start until early in the second period when Jussi Jokinen tapped home a Joe Corvo pass on the power play to give the Hurricanes the lead.

Carolina had a chance to double their lead later in the period when the referee called Dennis Wideman for hooking Chad LaRose on a breakaway. Washington goaltender Semyon Varlamov poke checked the puck off LaRose's stick on the ensuing penalty shot to keep the Caps within one.

The Capitals tied up it up late in the period when Alexander Semin, skating in from the bottom of the right wing faceoff circle, roofed the puck over Carolina netminder Cam Ward's left shoulder. It was his 27th goal of the season. Coming into Tuesday's game, the Capitals were undefeated when Semin scored this season.

Marcus Johansson gave the Caps the lead about three minutes later when he picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone and tucked it under Ward for the rookie's 13th goal of the season.

Johansson has seen his play dramatically improve over the course of the season and Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau summed up his elevated play in one word: "Experience."

Carolina's rookie sensation Jeff Skinner tied the game up early in the third period on a weak shot that Semyon Varlamov should have stopped. It was the 18 year old's 27th goal of the season.

"I think he would [like to have the goal back]. I don't want to get down on our goalies though, they've been really good," said Boudreau after the game. "They're allowed to have a bad goal. We should be able to pick them up if that's the case."

The game would go to overtime tied at two, despite a late penalty on Semin. The penalty didn't hurt the Caps, but it did hurt Semin as he was benched for the remainder of the game and all of the overtime session.

"He was our best offensive player, but at the same time he did the same thing he's been doing for five years in taking a dumb penalty with four minutes to go in the game," said Boudreau. "The refs didn't want to call any penalties, but you have to call that one. It's a bad hook in the neutral zone."

Overtime ended scoreless despite Washington outshooting Carolina five to nothing in the extra frame, including some impressive moves from Ovechkin.

In the shootout, Carolina got goals from Ruutu and Skinner while Backstrom and Ovechkin were stopped to give Carolina the extra point.

The Caps now lead Tampa Bay by six points to lead the Southeast Division, but have played one more game than the Lightning. They also trail the Philadelphia Flyers by three points for first overall in the East with one more game played.

Additional Notes

- The Capitals are now 18-0-1 this season when Alexander Semin scores.

- Dennis Wideman was injured when he slipped and was hit by Tuomo Ruutu as he fell to the ice in the second period. He didn't play the rest of the game and is considered "day-to-day."

- The Capitals power play again struggled, going 0-for-3 on the night. The team also allowed five power plays, killing off four of them.

- John Carlson led the Capitals in both ice time (28:12) and shots on goal with 8.

The Washington Capitals returned home Tuesday night to play the Carolina

Hurricanes after a 16 day, six game road trip in which they clinched

their fourth straight playoff berth. It also marked the return of Jason

Arnott and Alex Ovechkin after the duo missed six and three games

respectively.

"Every shift, every period, I feel better and better," said Ovechkin after the game.

The scoring didn't start until early in the second period when Jussi

Jokinen tapped homw a Joe Corvo pass on the powerplay to give the

Hurricanes the lead.

Carolina had a chance to double their lead later in the period when the

referee called Dennis Wideman for hooking Chad LaRose on a breakaway.

Washington goaltender Semyon Varlamov poke checked the puck off LaRose's

stick on the ensuing penalty shot to keep the Caps within one.

The Capitals finally tied up it up late in the period when Alexander

Semin, skating in from the bottom of the right wing faceoff circle,

roofed the puck over Carolina netminder Cam Ward's left shoulder. It was

his 27th goal of the season. The Capitals were undefeated when Semin

scored a goal this season entering the game.

Marcus Johansson gave the Caps the lead about three minutes later when

he picked up a lose puck in the offensive zone and tucked it under Ward

for the rookie's 13th goal of the season.

Carolina's rookie sensation Jeff Skinner tied the game up early in the

third period on a weak shot that Semyon Varlamov should have stopped. It

was the 18 year old's 27th goal of the season.

"I think he would [like to have the goal back]... I don't want to get down on our goalies though, they've been really good," said Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau after the game. "They're allowed to have a bad goal. We should be able to pick them up if that's the case."

The game would go to overtime tied at two, despite a late penalty on

Alexander Semin. The penalty didn't hurt the Caps, but it did hurt Semin

as he was benched for the remainder of the game and all of the overtime

session.

"He was our best offensive player but at the same time he did the same thing he's been doing for five years in taking a dumb penalty with four minutes to go in the game," said Boudreau. "The refs didn't want to call any penalties, but you have to call that one. It's a bad hook in the neutral zone."

Overtime ended scoreless despite Washington outshooting Carolina five to

nothing in the extra frame, including some impressive moves from

Ovechkin.

In the shootout, Carolina got goals from Ruutu and Skinner while

Backstrom and Ovechkin were stopped to give Carolina the extra point.

The Caps now lead Tampa Bay by six points to lead the Southeast

Division, but have played one more game than the Lightning. They also

trail the Philadelphia Flyers by three points for first overall in the

East with one more game played.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

- The Capitals are now 18-0-1 this season when Alexander Semin scores.

- Dennis Wideman was injured when he slipped and was hit by Tuomo Ruutu as he fell to the ice in the second period. He didn't play the rest of the game and is considered "day-to-day."

- The Capitals power play again struggled, going 0-for-3 on the night. The team also allowed five power plays, killing off four of them.

- John Carlson led the Capitals in both ice time (28:12) and shots on goal with 8.