Aside from Brandon Duhaime forcing Jalen Chatfield to atone for his actions last week, the first 20 minutes of the Capitals’ Thursday night clash with the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t feel like a sequel to the spirited matchup between the two Metro division rivals from a week ago. The ice was tilted firmly in Carolina’s favor, as the Canes had a 5v5 expected goals share of 77.7%. Washington was lucky to only be down 2-0 before a Pierre-Luc Dubois goal cut things in half as the first period ended. The Caps were going to need a spark if they wanted to turn things around in the remaining 40 minutes.
Enter Alex Ovechkin.
Less than a minute into the second period, the NHL’s 3rd all-time leading hitter (who’s also a pretty underrated goal scorer) set his sights on Chatfield as he crunched him into the boards.
The Great 8 wasn’t done there, as he’d lay the body again…
…and AGAIN.
This turned the game on its head, with Dylan Strome scoring on the power play shortly after the last hit. The Caps dominated the second period from that point, leaving with a two-goal cushion that would prove to be crucial in the third, as Carolina was able to tie things up late. After a relatively quiet overtime period, things would go to the shootout, where Dubois’ opening round marker would prove to be the difference as Charlie Lindgren shut the door on Carolina, clinching Washington’s 50th win of the season.
And just like that, the East runs through DC this Spring. Not a sentence many expected to read back in September.