Logan Thompson made 27 saves and Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist in the Washington Capitals’ 3-1 win over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday.
Connor McMichael and John Carlson also scored for the Capitals, who leveled the best-of-seven series at 1-1 ahead of Game 3 on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
“You can’t go to Carolina down two games,” Thompson said. “… We knew we had to make some adjustments, and I think we did that.”
Carolina has outshot Washington by a 61-35 margin in the series, including a 28-21 edge in Game 2. Despite the advantage, the Hurricanes have scored only three times against Thompson, who has been a force in Washington’s net throughout the playoffs.
After stopping 27 of 28 shots in Game 2, Thompson has a sterling .931 save percentage and a 2.01 goals-against average over the Capitals’ seven postseason games.
“We trust our systems,” Thompson said. “We have a tremendous (defensive) core, the forwards buy into the defense-first mentality.”
Wilson said of Thompson, “He’s our wall back there. He’s calm, he just keeps us in every single game. … He’s been our MVP all year and he’s playing great.”
Shayne Gostisbehere had Carolina’s only goal, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of 20 shots.
After collecting only 14 shots in Game 1, the Capitals had nine shots alone in the second period Thursday as part of a much more consistent offensive performance.
At the 2:16 mark of the second period, a sloppy clearance attempt from Sean Walker near the middle of the ice ended up springing McMichael on a breakaway. The forward buried the wrist shot for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
“The second period was just no good, and even the first half of our third was not great,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “We were playing in our end too much, just kind of turning over one too many pucks.
“(The Capitals) got some momentum and they got some confidence, and they started playing their game. We’re going to have to take that momentum back, and (we’ll) use our fans … to do it.”
The Capitals’ first strike was followed by another quick goal 1:54 into the third period. During a power play, a nice passing sequence concluded with Carlson’s shot from the left circle.
Washington was 1-for-3 on the power play Thursday, finally solving Carolina’s outstanding penalty-kill unit. Before Carlson’s goal, the Hurricanes were a perfect 19-for-19 on the kill during their first six playoff games and the first two periods of Game 2.
The Hurricanes outshot the Capitals by a 17-7 margin in the third and made it a one-goal game on Gostisbehere’s power-play tally at the 9:26 mark. That was as close as Carolina could get, as Wilson sealed the Capitals’ win with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
“It just didn’t look like us in Game 1,” Wilson said. “I thought we did a great job tonight of taking away as much time and space as we can, using our legs. … Tonight our legs were moving, we were supporting each other, we were playing physical. …
“Both teams have a fairly similar style, and it’s tight-checking so you’re going to fight for every inch.”
–Field Level Media
