GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NHL: WASHINGTON (8-17) at CAROLINA (13-12)

By Barry Smith
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Captain Rod Brind'Amour andthe Carolina Hurricanes gained a small measure of revenge.

Brind'Amour scored twice and Cam Ward made 31 saves as theHurricanes posted a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals onFriday.


Cory Stillman and Matt Cullen also tallied for Carolina, whichsnapped a two-game losing streak.


Included in that mini-skid was a 5-2 loss to Washington onSaturday, a setback in which Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkinscored two goals to extend his points streak to nine games.

Despite Ovechkin tallying twice again in this one, theHurricanes managed to squeak out the win.


After the 2006 Calder Trophy winner gave Washington an earlylead with a power-play goal 2:35 into the game, Carolinaanswered midway through the first period.


Eric Staal unleashed a shot from the right side of the net, butthe puck popped into the air. After it hit him in the chest,Stillman gained control and swatted it past goaltender OlafKolzig to even the contest at 1-1.


"It was a goal we needed to get momentum," Stillman said. "Wethrew the puck at the net and had two bodies in front of it. Iwas fortunate that it hit me and had an empty net to bury itin."


Each team nearly scored another goal in the first session.Ovechkin originally was awarded his second goal of the night14:33 into the period, but it was waved off after replays showedhe intentionally knocked the puck in with his skate.

Later, Ovechkin tripped Chad LaRose on a breakaway, giving thechecking center a penalty-shot opportunity. However, LaRosehesitated momentarily and tripped over Kolzig at the top of thecrease, with the puck sliding to the right of the net.

Carolina took the lead for good at 5:46 into the second period,when Ray Whitney took the puck from behind the net and passed itto a charging Cullen, who scored on a wrister to give theHurricanes a 2-1 lead.


Brind'Amour doubled the advantage when he deflected a shot bydefenseman Tim Gleason past Kolzig with 5:59 left in the middlesession.


Washington had another tally waved off late in the second. Withtime winding down, defenseman Mike Green appeared to score, butthe goal was disallowed after replay officials determined thepuck did not cross the goal line when time expired.

Ovechkin netted his second man-advantage goal just 32 seconds inthe final period to cut the deficit to 3-2. An All-Star lastseason, the 6-2, 217-pound Russian took the puck off the boardsand deked two defenders before blasting a shot past Ward.

"They took it to us most of the game," Brind'Amour said of theCapitals' play. "Their power play was looking pretty good."

Ovechkin believed the goal was a result of good communicationbetween himself and countryman Alexander Semin.


"(Semin) was telling me, 'Go, go go,' so I went to the net,"Ovechkin said.


But Brind'Amour capped his second two-goal game of the seasonwhen his pass attempt from behind the net bounced off the stickof Kolzig, hit the tip of Ovechkin's and went into the net at3:47 of the session.


Brind'Amour believed the breaks were going his way Friday.

"The other night, I played pretty well and got nothing," hesaid. "Tonight, I played horribly and got a couple of goals."

"I think we have to play the same way again," Ovechkin said."This was our game. They had some lucky goals."


Washington had a two-man advantage in the final moments afterJustin Williams was called for a delay-of-game penalty with 93seconds remaining. The Capitals unleashed a flurry of shots butwere unable to get one past Ward.


"It was a tough play where Willie got that penalty when he wastrying to do the right thing by hitting it off the glass andout, and it went over the glass," said Ward, who faced 16 shotsin the final session. "All you can do is battle. It was6-on-4, and you're at a disadvantage."


Carolina coach Peter Laviolette thinks his team has to gettougher defensively to help out Ward.


"There were guys standing in front of our net and nobody wasgetting knocked down," Laviolette said. "(Capitals centerMichael) Nylander just standing there by himself isunacceptable. We've got to get tougher, especially right infront of Cam."


Nylander scored with 4:07 remaining and Kolzig made 15 saves forthe Capitals, who finished November with a 3-10-2 record.

Capitals interim coach Bruce Boudreau wants more players to getinvolved in the team's offense.


"It's not hard to play against us if Alex and his linemates arethe only ones producing on the power play," Boudreau said.