3 Takeaways From Capitals’ 3-1 Victory vs. Hurricanes in Game 2

The Washington Capitals secured a Game 2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes with timely scoring and another focused defensive effort in front of the home crowd at Capital One Arena. Despite a generational scorer on the roster for the Capitals in Alex Ovechkin, the highlight names from Game 2 are similar to those from Round 1: Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson. Both players were crucial to Washington’s response in Game 2 after getting bullied by Carolina on Tuesday night, as the Capitals evened up their Round 2 series with the Hurricanes.

Coach Carbery Pleased with Game 2 Effort From Washington

Washington was not on their heels as much in Game 2 against Carolina. In Game 1, the Capitals were credited with only 21 shot attempts as they were bottled up consistently by the aggressive attack of the Hurricanes. While Carolina still directed almost 90 pucks toward Logan Thompson in Game 2, it was a more even contest at Capital One Arena. “It was much better. There’s no doubt about that,” Spencer Carbery said postgame. “We felt that. You guys saw that. Way better. I still think we have another level to get to. We’re going to need to get to that level, especially going down into their building.” 

On Thursday night, Carbery felt his Capitals could “punch back” against the Hurricanes. The Capitals did so not only on the scoreboard with the 3-1 final score but also on the box score. In Game 1, Carolina caused 21 giveaways with their high-pressure forecheck. In Game 2, Washington cleaned up the turnover problem with 13 giveaways in the win, a reduction of nearly 40% of the turnovers committed in the series opener. 

McMichael’s Defense Created Offense in the Second Period 

On his second-period goal, McMichael was responsible for the initial defensive play that caused chaos in the neutral zone. At 2:08 of the middle frame, Washington’s center chipped the puck off the boards in his zone to clear the Hurricanes’ pressure. Carolina defender Sean Walker was flipped a pass toward defense partner Shayne Gostisbehere that hit the Hurricanes blueliner up high. McMichael was in the right place at the right time to pick up the loose puck, split both Carolina defenders, and buried a breakaway opportunity against Frederik Andersen for a 1-0 Washington lead in Game 2. An unfortunate puck bounce for Carolina allowed the chance to occur. Still, without McMichael’s defensive play to force the puck into the neutral zone and a pressuring hit from Andrew Mangiapane on Walker, the situation never would have had a chance to unfold.