2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Washington Capitals thrash the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0
The Washington Capitals was up against the Carolina Hurricanes this Wednesday. The match took place at the RBC Centre, home of the Carolina Hurricanes in front of 19,000 fans. This was the 124th game of the NHL regular season and the 9th
game of the Washington Capitals, whereas the 8th game for the Carolina Hurricanes. Though the game was evenly balanced as both teams had a share of the scoring opportunities but the Hurricanes couldn’t score as the Washington Capitals won the match
3-0.
1st Period
Though the home team made a good start to the match but they faced the problem of not being able to reach the opposing goal. It took them some chances when they started to come up with brilliant pieces of play that enabled them to go deep into the opposing
half.
However, they still couldn’t score as they committed all of their men forward. This went against them as they were caught on counter attacks every now and then. Not learning from their mistakes and the Washington Capitals constant attacks saw them scoring
in the 11th minute to take the lead. The goal was scored by Matt Hendricks through an extravagant shot that was hit from 13 feet.
The home regrouped and started to attack once again but they couldn’t find the back of the net. The period came to end with the Washington Capitals still in the lead as they scored out of the 7 goal attempts they made. The home team made 8 goal attempts
but couldn’t score any goals.
2nd Period
The 2nd period started off very fast as both teams came out on the field with their mentality more on the offensive side.
There were fabulous pieces of play that were observed throughout the period. There were two things that hindered the puck from finding the back of the net. The first was the fact that the players just couldn’t hit shot on target. The second reason was that
even though the teams didn’t have a very strong defence but the last man or goal keepers made a right tackle at the very last moment.
The main lack was in the finishing during the period which is why there were no goals during the 20 minutes. The period ended with Washington Capitals still in the lead and both teams made 11 goal attempts in the period.
3rd Period
The start to the 3rd period was no different from the previous period. But this time it was the Carolina Hurricanes who came up with early shot on goals.
However, the first goal of the period came in favour of the Washington Capitals who were successful in doubling their lead. The goal was scored in the 13th minute through Nicklas Backstrom who hit a powerful shot from 25 feet.
Taking the lead, the away team preferred pushing and keeping the pressure rather than playing with a defensive strategy.
This paid off as they scored once again to seal the match. The goal was scored in the 18th minute through a deflected shot that found the back of net from an amazing 127 feet. The goal was scored by Nicklas Backstrom, who scored his 2nd
of the night as the Washington Capitals won the match 3-1.
At the end of the match, the Carolina Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice said,
"I think that coming off a road trip that was a very difficult schedule and having more confidence in yourself than when you left -- we're very happy about that,"
He further added. "I don't know that being a game over .500 fires us up and that this is going to be easy for us, but I think it's more a general understanding that we’re playing pretty good hockey, and if we keep improving in some areas we'll be a good
team."
The rookie Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes while talking about the crowd at the home Arena said,
"The guys have told me how loud it's going to be and how crazed the atmosphere is going to be," Skinner,
"I'm really excited about it."
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