Hurricanes score 6 unanswered goals to beat Capitals 6-2 for their 5th consecutive win

WASHINGTON — Brent Burns scored twice, Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and two assists for his sixth consecutive multipoint game and the Carolina Hurricanes poured it on in the third period to beat the Washington Capitals 6-2 Friday night for their fifth straight win.

Seth Jarvis scored the tying goal early in the third to complete the comeback from down 2-0, and Svechnikov put the Hurricanes ahead on the power play with 7:19 left. Svechnikov also set up Burns for his second of the night less than 90 seconds later.

Former Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov scored into an empty net from 183 feet away, and Vasily Ponomarev beat Darcy Kuemper in the final minute to give himself two points in his NHL debut.

Sebastian Aho had three assists, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 15 saves for his 11th win of the season for the Hurricanes, who have not lost since the Christmas break.

They were without three of their top nine forwards with Jesper Fast and Martin Necas injured and Stefan Noesen out with an illness. Ponomarev was called up earlier in the day from AHL Chicago and made it to the arena two hours before puck drop to play.

Kuemper allowed five goals on 33 shots in net for the Capitals, who have lost two in a row and six of seven. Back-to-back slashing penalties by Beck Malenstyn and Evgeny Kuznetsov paved the way for Carolina’s third-period power-play goals that made the difference.

Before that, Nic Dowd scored, and Alex Ovechkin extended his point streak to four games by setting up Dylan Strome’s power-play goal. Ovechkin has two goals and three assists during this run.

Washington was also playing short a regular with defenseman Rasmus Sandin out sick. Hendrix Lapierre replaced Matthew Phillips in the lineup.

Coach Spencer Carbery said T.J. Oshie returned home to Minnesota to receive treatment on an injury that has kept him out since Dec. 17. Fellow winger Sonny Milano joined the team for its morning skate but remains week to week with an upper-body injury.

Washington got a reinforcement in winger Max Pacioretty, who made his season debut Wednesday against New Jersey. Pacioretty, who played five games last season with Carolina before re-tearing his right Achilles tendon, hit the crossbar on his best scoring chance of the night.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Open a six-game homestand Saturday against St. Louis on Saturday.

Capitals: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.