The Canes suffered another frustrating loss at home on Sunday, falling 2-1 to the Capitals in a shootout.
The Metro matchup featured some excellent hockey from both squads, but a fruitless night by the Canes (16-12-3) on the power play and the lone shootout goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov proved the difference. Despite some highlight-reel plays by Pyotr Kochetkov, Sebastian Aho and more, Carolina only managed a point against the Caps (15-9-4).
“Five on five we were fine,” Aho said. “We created enough scoring chances. They played a really good game defensively, so did we. It was a tight, hard-fought game.”
Kochetkov put another solid game against a tenacious Washington lineup. Kooch notched 20 saves on 21 shots, coming up big time and time again when the moment called for it.
The Capitals’ lone goal on open ice came on a missed defensive by Carolina assignment, allowing Martin Fehervary to waltz into the slot and beat Kochetkov unimpeded. Excluding that busted play, the Canes’ netminder gave his squad a good chance to win.
“Koochie did great,” Jarvis said. “Sucks we couldn’t bail him out in the shootout. He did a fantastic job of even getting us there.”
Kooch’s wasn’t the only Hurricane making impactful saves on the night. Brady Skjei made a clutch save in overtime, sweeping a trickling puck off the goal line and clearing it away to keep Carolina alive.
On the other end of the ice, Darcy Kuemper matched Kooch shot for shot all night long. The Washington netminder stonewalled the Hurricanes to the tune of 28 saves on 29 shots. Kuemper also benefited from a tight Caps that blocked 14 shots on the night.
The Canes drew first blood with a second-period Aho snapshot, but that wasn’t the first time Carolina put a puck in the back of the net. Skjei found twice on the would-be opening goal on a first-period power play, but a goalie interference call set the score back to 0-0.
That disallowed goal foreshadowed an unlucky showing by the Hurricanes PP unit, which finished the game 0 for 5 with multiple shots ringing off the iron. In such a close matchup, the Canes sorely missed production on the power play.
“Early it was good, then the last one wasn’t great,” said Rod Brind’Amour. “We hit the goalpost on one there, too. It’s been tough. I thought tonight was a real solid game. I liked it, just didn’t get the win. We lost the skills competition tonight.”
Despite playing a steady, quality game of hockey, the Hurricanes ended up on the losing end. Yeah, they salvaged a point by making it to OT, but playing good hockey without the results to match keeps leaving a bad taste in Carolina’s mouth at the end of the night. With the defending champion Golden Knights coming to town on Tuesday, the Canes know they must put this frustrating stretch behind them.
“We’re going to practice tomorrow, go over this game,” Aho said. “Try to take up a couple learners and some good things and move on. If you want to be the champ, you got to beat the champ. It’s a big one for us.”
Puck drop between the Hurricanes and Golden Knights is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday in PNC Arena.