National Hockey League
Washington 5, Carolina 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Referees: Ghislain Hebert, Tim Peel
Linesmen: Darren Gibbs, Brian Murphy
Attendance: 11989

Ovechkin, Capitals slip past Hurricanes in OT

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Alex Ovechkin scored the tying and winning goals as the Washington Capitals rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at PNC Arena.



Ovechkin's 26th goal of the season came unassisted 1:57 into overtime as the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals snapped Carolina's six-game, home-ice winning streak.



Ovechkin tied the game at 4-4 with 7:15 to play in regulation.



Alex Chiasson, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dmitry Orlov also scored for the Capitals (25-13-3), who were playing in their only game of the week.



Washington, which has at least one point in 13 of its past 15 games, led 3-1 midway through the second period before the Hurricanes responded.



Carolina (18-13-8) lost its second game in a row following a season-high, four-game winning streak.



Victor Rask collected his second goal of the game at 11:15 of the middle period, and Elias Lindholm and Teuvo Teravainen scored in an 84-second span of the third period to lift the Hurricanes into a 4-3 lead.



The winning goal came on Washington's only shot on goal in the extra session.



Goaltender Braden Holtby made 34 saves for the Capitals.



Carolina goalie Cam Ward had his personal streak of victories in six straight decisions end. He stopped 21 shots.



Carolina's Sebastian Aho assisted on Teravainen's go-ahead goal, pushing his points streak to five games.



Rask's first goal came 5:21 into the game when he converted a Capitals turnover into an unassisted goal.



He pulled the Hurricanes within 3-2 with a power-play goal in the second period. That gave Rask 10 goals this season.



Carolina's Justin Williams had one assist in his first game of the season against his former team.



It was the first of three meetings between the teams in an 11-day stretch. The Hurricanes go on a four-game road swing before returning home for a game against the Capitals.



--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Carolina
Alex Ovechkin 2 Points Victor Rask 2
Alex Ovechkin 2 Goals Victor Rask 2
Nicklas Backstrom 2 Assists Sebastian Aho 1
N/A Power Play Goals Victor Rask 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Braden Holtby .895 Save Percentage Cam Ward .808
Braden Holtby 34 Saves Cam Ward 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Washington 26 5 0-2 3-4 8 27
Carolina 38 4 1-4 2-2 4 30
Upcoming Games
  • Carolina will play their next game on the road against Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .474 after a win and .450 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Capitals have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .625 after a loss.