Stankoven ties it late, Hurricanes edge Capitals in shootout

WASHINGTON -- Logan Stankoven scored the game-tying goal with 2:15 remaining in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes rallied for a 3-2 shootout win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

Nikolaj Ehlers' backdoor pass for Jackson Blake hit off the skate of John Carlson and deflected backward to the top of the left circle, where Stankoven roofed a shot glove side on Logan Thompson.

“I think [defenseman Jalen Chatfield] made a good pinch there and kind of turned the puck over, and then [I] just kind of hopped off the bench,” said Stankoven, who had gone 14 games without a goal. “Then, [Ehlers] went to go shoot it and it deflected right to me and I just tried to roof it. Yeah, it was nice to see it go in.”

Brandon Bussi made 23 saves, including 12 in the third period and three more in overtime, to earn his eighth straight win for the Hurricanes (19-9-2), who have won two in a row and five of their past seven games. Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Seth Jarvis scored the only goal in the shootout.

“We’re playing good hockey,” Bussi said. “So, it’s nice to be a small part of it, coming up when I need to, but ultimately we’re playing really good hockey. It makes my life easy.”

Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (18-9-4), who extended their point streak to nine games (7-0-2). Thompson made 37 saves.

“We were right there grinding it out all game,” Thompson said. “Just unfortunately couldn’t get two points tonight, but we’ll take the point and move on.”

McMichael gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 5:00 of the second period. Rasmus Sandin sent a stretch pass up the right boards to Alex Ovechkin, but the puck deflected into the slot, where McMichael skated into it before sliding a backhand between Bussi’s pads on a short breakaway.

“I’ve been trying to focus on my breakaways a little bit more,” McMichael said. “I’ve had a few opportunities that didn’t go in, so I’ve tried to bear down.”

Ehlers tied it 1-1 at 13:43 when he got to a loose puck in front and beat Thompson with a snap shot from near the right post.

Nic Dowd put the Capitals back in front 2-1 at 11:32 of the third period, tapping in a diagonal backdoor pass from Sandin at the right post.

“We were kind of on our heels the whole [third] period,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But give the guys a lot of credit, they found a way to tie it up, and then our goaltending was great tonight again. So, that allowed us to pull it out.”

NOTES: Bussi (10-1-0) became the fastest goaltender in NHL history to record 10 career wins. ... Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal went 15-for-20 on face-offs. ... Washington is 0-4 in games decided by a shootout. … Ovechkin had an assist to become the 11th player in NHL history to record 1,800 points in the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs combined. ... Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas had his six-game point streak end (four goals, two assists).