Capitals Flip the Ice Behind Thompson and Tuch
Carolina drives the play but finds iron and a hot goalie; Washington cashes the few looks it needs.
This looked like a Hurricanes night until it wasn’t: they carried the puck, piled on chances, and still watched the Capitals skate out 5-2. The box score misses how tilted this was toward Carolina — they owned the shot-attempt battle 82-43 and fired 33 on net, with chances worth 3.99 expected goals. Washington didn’t win the volume game; they won the swing moments.
Enter Logan Thompson. He turned aside 31 of 33 and beat the math with +1.98 goals saved above expected — the difference between a comeback push and a quiet finish. At the other end, Alex Tuch buried two clean looks that snuffed out momentum, and Jakob Chychrun and Ryan Leonard added daggers as Washington turned fewer looks into more finish. Carolina’s misses mattered: three shots rang off iron (including Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal), and a 1-for-6 power play left goals on the table, while Washington went 1-for-2 and blocked 27.
Tonight’s story: Carolina drove the game; Washington’s goalie and shooters decided it.