Washington Capitals flabbergasted with 5-0 loss to Carolina Hurricanes -NHL Update
Just about when Washington was looking to turnaround their season and move into the playoff rankings, they were attacked with the shutout bomb as the Carolina Hurricanes pushed their way with full throttle to takedown the Capitals, 5-0, Monday night, February
20, 2012 at the RBC Center in Raleigh North Carolina.
Washington was not the only team that felt the immense disappointment of a shutout Monday as the New York Islanders were also blown away by Ottawa Senators in a huge, 6-0, contest.
Carolina Hurricanes captain, Eric Staal, had his eyes on the prize the entire time as he picked up three points (2 goals, 1 assist).
"I felt like we really initiated the game, right from the beginning, from the first shift ... and from then on out, we really controlled it and didn't really give them anything," Staal said. "And when we did, Petey was solid. That's just a good, solid effort
by everybody."
Hurricanes young goalie, Justin Peters, who is playing only his fifth game of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season certainly impressed the management with his 17 saves performance, blocking all attempts by Washington’s veteran team.
Carolina was on fire in regards to the shooting as they outshot the competition, 40-17, obviously taking control of the puck on every chance they got.
Veteran Washington goalie, Tomas Vokoun, was taken out of the game after letting go two goals on the first five attempts while Michal Neuvirth came in as the replacement, but did not have it any better by failing on three of 33.
"It was a lot of fun to watch," Peters said. "Me getting the shutout, I'm just the beneficiary of the effort that these guys put in. I can't say enough about the effort."
Justin Faulk kicked off the scoring with his sixth of the year on the power play while Anthony Stewart and Andreas Nodl added two more straight to cap off the period at 3-0 in favour of Carolina.
Eric Staal added two back-to-back goals in the second and third period, the first on a turnover when the Hurricanes were shorthanded at 5:56 in round-two and another at 5:51 in the final 20 minutes.
Washington has now lost two straight and have the next in Ottawa against Senators on Wednesday while Carolina will be hosting Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
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