Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen stuffs Alex Ovechkin, Capitals in 3-2 shootout win
Andrei Svechnikov’s eighth goal of the season evened the score in the second period, and then won the game with a goal on the team’s second attempt in the shootout to lift Carolina to a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Monday at PNC Arena.
Stefan Noesen also scored in regulation with a power-play goal for the Hurricanes (6-2-1), and Brent Burns added a shootout marker on the team’s first attempt.
Dylan Strome and Ovechkin scored in regulation for the Capitals (5-4-1). Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in the shootout for the Caps, but Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen stuffed Ovechkin and Strome to preserve the win.
Here are quick takeaways from the Hurricanes’ win:
▪ Halloween nightmare moment for a goalie: the Caps’ Ovechkin getting the puck on an odd-man rush into the zone. The Canes’ Frederik Andersen did get a piece of the shot on the first-period play.
▪ Bigger Halloween nightmare moment: Ovechkin loading up a power-play shot from the left circle. No. 8 didn’t miss in the second period, scoring career goal No. 785 in the second.
▪ Make it eight goals in nine games for the Canes’ Svechnikov. No. 37 had an open net in the second and he didn’t miss, either, in tying the score 2-2. Only Edmonton’s Connor McDavid has more goals this season — with nine — than Svechnikov.
▪ At times, it didn’t seem like a Canes-Caps game with John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson all out for Washington. Same kind of grinding, big-boy hockey game, though.
▪ Noesen has replaced Nino Niederreiter on the power play and been a disrupter around the net. Noesen, active all night, had a “Nino-like” goal in the first, getting a piece of a Burns shot from the point for a power-play goal and 1-0 lead.
▪ Let’s all say it again: Defenseman Jaccob Slavin does so many things well in a game for the Canes. His stick work and positioning are elite. His sliding block on a Caps power play in the third period, with Andersen out of the net, keyed the penalty kill and kept it a 2-2 game.
▪ Andersen said he likes a 3-on-3 overtime more than shootouts – “It’s really exciting and a better product,” he said – but did his part by stopping Ovechkin and Strome. Kuznetsov scored in the shootout after moseying his way in with the puck, almost in slow motion.
“That might have been the slowest on me, for sure,” Andersen said. “He’s a good player, good hands. He made a nice move and got a quick shot off.” Finally.
▪ The next time the Caps are in town to play the Canes, they’ll play it outside. That will be Feb. 18 in the NHL Stadium Series outdoor game at Carter-Finley Stadium.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen stuffs Alex Ovechkin, Capitals in 3-2 shootout win."
