The Washington Capitals took full advantage of a make shift Carolina Hurricanes defense and carried the play much of the game while defeating the Canes, 3-0 at the Verizon Center on Tuesday night.

The score could have been much worse as Cam Ward made several top grade saves on open attempts, including one spectacular save off Joel Ward on an open net which fooled the horn blower and most everyone else in the crowd.

The game started off well as Alexander Semin took a pass from Eric Staal and broke in alone shorthanded on Braden Holtby, but the young goaltender made a nice save on the play.

The Caps held the puck for long periods of time in the Carolina zone and at one time had double the shots on goal, (30-15) before they changed to a more defensive orientated game.

Kirk Muller said after the contest that he was happy with the effort, but it sure seemed like the Caps had more jump in their step in this one. The Canes return home to take on the Penguins on Thursday night.

Game Notes:

• The experiment to move Chad LaRose to the first line was a failure and seemed to disrupt some of the line's previously developed chemistry. Muller moved Jiri Tlusty back to that line toward the end of the second period but the group did not look as effective as they had in previous games.
  
• Jay Harrison led the team with 25:47 of ice time. Joe Corvo had a team high four blocked shots.
• The loss puts the Canes at 0-5-0 against the Southeast this season.