Capitals’ victory over Hurricanes offers sense of relief in areas of concern

Justin Williams skated to the front of the net and positioned himself next to Eddie Lack, obstructing the view of the Carolina Hurricanes’ goaltender. Along the boards, Jason Chimera corralled the puck and fired it toward the crease, where Williams tipped it into the net. The first period had already gone by, but this time, the Washington Capitals finally scored first.

After losing two of three games on a West Coast road trip, the Capitals returned to Verizon Center seeking a fresh start — and they got one. Since the all-star break, Washington had allowed opponents to score first in 16 of its last 21 games before Tuesday night’s 2-1 overtime victory against the Hurricanes.

By getting to overtime and ensuring they’d earn at least a point, the Capitals (50-14-5) became the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season. While coach Barry Trotz and his players took pride in that accomplishment, it was more important that the Capitals played a brand of hockey that more resembled the type they want to display in the playoffs.

“We’ve had a good season and I feel like lately we haven’t really played our best,” center Marcus Johansson said. “But it felt good to have a good game and to clinch a playoff spot gives us a little bit more confidence and it makes us really believe in what we’re doing. I think we already are, but it really shows that we’re doing the right things.”

A big part of confidence is dictating the pace and scoring first, not playing from behind when it’s too late. The Capitals have spent most of this season looking like a team that can seriously contend for the Stanley Cup but lately, Washington felt it needed to clean up its game. Entering Tuesday, the Capitals had not led in a game since March 2, when they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I think sometimes if you just keep talking about it, talking about it and talking about, then it becomes a problem,” Williams said when asked about scoring first. “Then you can get it in your head and all sorts of other things. I’m kind of sick of talking about it, but it’s a stat, it’s there and it’s ugly. We got time to rectify that and I know we will.”

Washington attacked the Hurricanes early on Tuesday, producing 10 shots in the first period to Carolina’s eight. The looks were good, too. Alex Ovechkin, who had gone five games with scoring a goal, had two of them early and clanged one off the post. Nickas Backstrom nearly scored early as well, but he sent a rebound from Ovechkin’s shot over the net.

Though the Capitals didn’t score a goal in the first period, Carolina’s chances were limited. The start was much better, something Washington hopes to continue on Friday when it hosts the Nashville Predators.

“Yeah, I was fine with the first period,” Trotz said after the win. “Caught a couple cross bars, thought we were playing the right way. Sometimes you’re not going to find the back of the net but I’ll take that start most nights. We really didn’t give them anything.”

Part of tightening up the Capitals’ game meant getting Ovechkin going again, too. His five-goal drought was the longest of the season and he snapped it when he delivered the game-winner against Carolina. Trotz shuffled the lines on Monday, bumping fourth-line winger Jay Beagle to the top trio. Beagle went into the game eager to feed his two linemates, and he did just that: Ovechkin and Backstrom combined for 10 shots against the Hurricanes.

With just 13 games remaining, the Capitals know teams desperate to make the playoffs will be challenging them like the Hurricanes did on Tuesday night. The hope is that they’ll respond to that challenge by pushing forward and showing opponents just how good they can be, which is what they did against Carolina.

“Especially in our first period, we showed what we can do to start the game and set up our game,” goaltender Braden Holtby said. “You look at it as we only scored two goals with the overtime goal, but we could’ve had quite a few more, just the posts and the tough shots we threw on net in traffic. Just didn’t go our way, but we stuck with it and that shows that we played a committed game.”