Hurricanes squeeze out 3-2 win over Capitals

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network
Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center on Thursday.

After faltering in the third period and suffering a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, Carolina finished its effort in the final period against their Metropolitan division opponent.

“They were really focused right from the start – played 60 solid minutes,” Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller said.

“A great performance and we were really happy with them. They dug down. It wasn’t easy. Tthey stayed with it and came from behind and got a huge win.”

Nathan Gerbe scored the eventual game-winning goal at 6:59 in the third period as he waited along the goal line as a Justin Faulk shot was turned aside and towards him by Washington goalkeeper Braden Holtby.

From there, Gerbe managed to tuck the puck between the netminder and the post to score his third goal in four games.

“I was just trying to get it back on the net,” Gerbe said afterwards.

“Luckily it trickled in.”

Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Hurricanes outshot and outscored the Capitals for the remainder of the game while goaltender Anton Khudobin turned away 25 shots throughout to secure his second win of the season.

Rookie forward Elias Lindholm scored his first of the season to even the score 1-1 at 12:58 in the second period, but the Caps managed to retake the lead 54 seconds later on an Alex Ovechkin goal.

Alexander Semin then tallied his first goal of the year with a blast from the point, scoring the Hurricanes’ lone power play goal on the night (1/5) to tie the score at 2-2 heading into the final period of play.

Keeping his hot hands going, Gerbe helped the Hurricanes to return home with a split from their short road trip as they prepare to host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday in their first back-to-back series of games on the season.

“It’s huge,” Gerbe said of the road win.

“It’s a division game and you need every win you can, especially in the start. Every game’s gonna’ be tough, no matter home or away. It’s gonna’ be a battle and you gotta’ fight until the end.”