Capitals 2, Hurricanes 1

The Carolina Hurricanes fell behind 2-0, but made a game of it in the third period before losing, 2-1 to the Washington Capitals on Monday night at the PNC Arena.

The game was similar to many in the past where the team outshot their opponents, but could not light the lamp or make enough plays when they really needed it to win.

The Caps took a 1-0 lead at 15:52 into the first period when Michael Latta jumped on a juicy rebound in front of Cam Ward.  It was Latta's third goal of the season.

Midway through the second the visitors made it 2-0 when a  John Carlson shot bounced past Ward when it hit Jason Chimera's skate, proving that good things do happen when you go to the front of the net.

The Canes tried their best to crank up pressure in the third period and finally beat backup goalie Philipp Grubauer when Kris Versteeg made a fancy shot down low.  It looked like the winger went between the legs with the shot.

Try as they might and even with the help of a powerplay and an extra skater in the last minute and a half, the home team could not score another one to tie it up.

Carolina ended up with 32 shots on goal, had 27 shots blocked, and missed the net 21 times for a total of 80 shot attempts in the game.

The club will now have a few days off for the holiday break and will next take on the Devils at home on Saturday night.

Game notes:

• The Canes blocked 13 shots compared to the Caps 27.  Jaccob Slavin had a team high three.
• Elias Lindholm had a team best five shots on goal.  Justin Faulk had four shots on goal and had eight shots blocked for a total of 12 attempts.
• Once again, Phillip Di Giuseppe led the club with five hits.  The Canes had 24 for the game.
• stats and audio