National Hockey League
Carolina 6, Washington 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 28, 2019
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Referees: Frederic L'Ecuyer, Wes McCauley
Linesmen: Tyson Baker, Kory Nagy
Attendance: 18680

Warren Foegele scored two goals and added an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the visiting Washington Capitals 6-4 on Saturday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.

It was the first meeting in Raleigh since the teams faced off in a seven-game series last spring in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Carolina pulled off an upset by winning that series. This meeting opened Carolina's seven-game homestand.

Washington has lost two games in regulation across a three-game span for only the second time this season. The Capitals have surrendered a total of 13 goals in those two setbacks, the other coming at Boston on Monday.

Lucas Wallmark, Dougie Hamilton, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who won at Washington in overtime in the second game of the season. Svechnikov's empty-net tally came with 4:02 remaining, increasing the lead to 6-3.

Nic Dowd, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Richard Panik scored for the Capitals.

Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek made 25 saves for the victory after losses in his last two decisions.

Braden Holtby of the Capitals stopped 23 shots. It was only the fifth time in Holtby's last 23 games that Washington didn't secure at least one point.

Foegele had Carolina's second and fourth goals, pushing his season total to eight goals. He had gone five games without a goal.

Wallmark opened the scoring less than 10 minutes into the game on a power play. He pushed his points streak to a career-best six games.

After Foegele made it 2-0 just eight seconds into the second period, Dowd converted on a two-on-one to draw the Capitals within 2-1.

But the Hurricanes wasted little time in regaining the two-goal advantage, with Hamilton scoring less than two minutes later as he was set up by Foegele's rush down the ice.

Ovechkin closed the gap with a second-period goal on a power play, notching his team-leading 24th goal of the season. Foegele pushed it to 4-2 just over three minutes later.

After Kuznetsov got Washington within one with 18 minutes to play, Necas scored 80 seconds later.

The Capitals lost defenseman Christian Djoos to an upper-body injury in the first period.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Carolina
John Carlson 2 Points Warren Foegele 3
Nic Dowd 1 Goals Warren Foegele 2
John Carlson 2 Assists Ryan Dzingel 2
Evgeny Kuznetsov 1 Power Play Goals Lucas Wallmark 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Warren Foegele 1
Braden Holtby .821 Save Percentage Petr Mrazek .862
Braden Holtby 23 Saves Petr Mrazek 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Washington 29 4 2-5 2-3 6 32
Carolina 29 6 1-3 3-5 10 28
Upcoming Games
  • Carolina will play their next game at home against Montreal. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .636 after a win and .529 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Capitals have a W/L % of .643 after a win and .750 after a loss.