Period Two Recap

More from the game:

• Carolina's first goal of the season? A 5-on-3 point blast from none other than the newcomer Pitkanen. A moment earlier, he had passed the puck into Corvo's feet, but he later took a pass back from Sergei Samsonov and ripped it past Daren Machesney, who replaced Varlamov to start the second. Corvo earned the secondary assist.

• Machesney almost yielded a goal to LaRose when he misplayed a puck well out of his crease. He scooped it up but was deemed too far from the net by the referees, earning a delay of game penalty.

• Ward came out to start the second, but Justin Peters took over at 10:20 of the period. Less than two minutes later, Peters lost sight of a loose puck and Mathieu Perreault jabbed it in the net. Fleischmann got his second of the night with 2:54 left in the second, scoring on the power play while Dwight Helminen serving a minor penalty.

• Petruzlaek will never win any awards for shooting percentage, but you can count on him to put the puck on the net whenever he gets a chance.

• Scott Walker is looking just fine — he's finishing his checks and getting into all the cluttered spots on the ice. The same goes for Matt Cullen. He's looked like his old self out there.

• Brett Carson and Casey Borer have both looked good, with Carson standing out a little more — he can give and take a hit, and shows smarts in his own end.

It's 4-1 Caps after two, with the unofficial shot count at 23-20 for the Canes.