The Washington Capitals had been one team the Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t beat this season.
No longer.
After a scoring outburst Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, the Canes maintained their shooting touch Monday with a convincing 6-1 road victory over the Caps at Capital One Arena.
It was another game when the Canes’ side of the scoresheet was packed. Martin Necas scored twice, giving the speedy winger four goals in his last four games, and had an assist. Sebastian Aho had a shorthanded goal, always a momentum-shifter, and defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei each had a goal.
The Canes’ fourth line provided the game’s first goal. Quickly in transition, Derek Stepan took a breakout pass from defenseman Tony DeAngelo and ended up scoring off the rebound of a Jesperi Kotkaniemi shot. That set the tone.
Canes goalie Frederik Andersen was the benefactor this night, as Antti Raanta was in the Canes’ 7-2 road win over the Blues. Like Raanta, he had his share of some timely saves among his 25 stops as the Canes improved to 44-15-7.
Andersen twice stopped Alex Ovechkin in the second period on power-play shots that would have tied the score. Ovechkin then failed to paw down a puck chipped off the glass and Aho was off with it.
Aho skated past Marcus Johansson and beat goalie Vitek Vanecek with a forehand as he swept in front of the net. Aho had his 29th of the season and the Canes a 3-1 lead.
After Pesce and then Necas scored on shots from the slot, it was 5-1 after two periods.
One downside for the Canes: Kotkaniemi absorbed a big hit along the boards from Lars Eller in the final seconds and needed to be helped off the ice. It was a needless hit by Eller, who was called for charging.
It was a night mostly of frustration for the Caps (37-21-10), who won the first three games against Carolina this season.
Vanecek shut out the Canes 4-0 with 36 saves on March 3. He lasted two periods Monday.
Ovechkin buried a power-play shot in the first period and was about to celebrate. But the whistle had blown just before the shot and the Caps’ T.J. Oshie was called for slashing.
In the third period, Caps bruiser Tom Wilson, who scored the Caps goal, dropped the gloves and wanted to go with the Canes’ Brendan Smith, who took a pass -- briefly. The two later traded blows in a fight that lasted longer than it should have. Smith was left a bit bloodied but answered Wilson’s challenge.
That’s two wins in two games in what might be the Canes’ toughest three-game road trip of the season. Carolina goes to Tampa Bay on Tuesday to close out the back-to-back.
