Svechnikov is Capitals’ Boogeyman in Halloween win

It was a Halloween spooktacular in Raleigh as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 3-2 in a shootout Monday night.

It was a game full of Tricks — 14 total penalties were called over the course of the game — and Treats — four goals and three shootout goals scored in the contest — that saw the Canes come out with another win over a divisional opponent.

Carolina was cooking early with a terrifying power play as Stefan Noesen scored on a slick deflection between his legs off of a Brent Burns shot for his first goal as a Hurricane, however the power play soon turned even more frightening, but not for Washington.

After the success of the first power play, the Canes squandered five more opportunities including one to end regulation as well as one in overtime.

The man-advantage is truly scary right now and not in a good way for the Hurricanes.

However, despite it, the Canes were able to overcome a second period pushback from the Capitals — a quick goal by Dylan Strome and the ever-present terror of the Alex Ovechkin one-timer — and the comeback effort was led by none other than Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas.

The duo has been lights out for the Hurricanes all season and tonight was no different.

The team was looking like it was stuck in a spider’s web all through the second period, but a quick rush into the zone by Svechnikov, followed by a drop pass to Necas set the stage for a boost.

Svechnikov positioned himself on the doorstep, pillowcase open, waiting for the that treat which took the form of a perfect rebound for the tying goal after Necas’ shot on net was deflected in front by Paul Stastny.

From there the Hurricanes continued to push the pace through the third period and eventually overtime.

And while the power play let them down, it didn’t lose them the game and as the clock struck the final minutes of overtime it went to the shootout.

First up came Brent Burns who wasted no in ripping a wicked wrister top shelf.

Then came Evgeny Kuznetsov who slowly inched in like a lumbering zombie before ripping it past Frederik Andersen.

But next came who else but Svechnikov, donning his best super hero costume, and the young Russian flew in and scored effortlessly on Darcy Kuemper.

And after that, Andersen shut the door and turned off the lights to the rest of the Capitals trick-or-treaters, securing the Hurricanes 3-2 win.

The team will yet again hit the road as they head down to Tampa Bay to take on the Lighting Thursday night.