Hurricanes defeat Capitals, extend Metropolitan Division lead

WASHINGTON --Martin Necas had two goals and an assist for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Monday.

Necas has scored five points in the past two games; he had a goal and an assist in a 7-2 victory at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
"It always builds your confidence more and more when the puck goes in and you feel good about yourself," Necas said. "(It) always helps, but [Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour says] everybody has to play two-way game and if you play good in your own zone, you're going to get chances in the other."
Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves for the Hurricanes (44-15-7), who moved five points ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metropolitan Division and will try to sweep a three-game road trip at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Max Domi, Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.
"I think every game from now until the playoffs is gearing up for the real stage," Domi said. "Every game's big, it doesn't really matter who it's against. Obviously, that's a good team over there, we know that. We were good tonight, so we'll take the win and got to get ready for the next one tomorrow against Tampa."

Tom Wilson scored for the Capitals (37-21-10), who remained three points behind the Boston Bruins for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Vitek Vanecek allowed five goals on 23 shots and was pulled after the second period. Ilya Samsonov made five saves in relief.
Washington has lost three of its past four games at home, where it is 16-14-5 this season.
"I think a big part of it is the mindset we have going into it," Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway said. "And I think you look at it, and we have a really good road record (21-7-5). So, it's trying to figure out not what we're doing wrong here, but what we're doing right on the road and how to translate that to do it at home."
Derek Stepan gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 2:41 of the first period when Jesperi Kotkaniemi's attempted one-timer slid across the slot to Stepan for a tap-in.
Necas made it 2-0 at 7:47. Vanecek made a save against Andrei Svechnikov, but Trocheck got the rebound and passed to Necas, who scored near the left post.
"Slow start. (We) probably weren't ready for the first couple shifts," Washington forward Conor Sheary said. "But after that, I think we played probably 20 minutes of good hockey and we just couldn't get anything going. Unfortunate game against a division opponent, but we will move past it."

Wilson cut it to 2-1 at 6:47 of the second period, six seconds after a power play expired, but Sebastian Aho scored shorthanded at 8:35 when he beat Marcus Johansson to the puck and slid the puck past Vanecek to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead.
Brett Pesce made it 4-1 at 10:38 during a 4-on-4 off a pass from Teravainen.
"It's unfortunate the way [those] two goals played out," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "A shorthanded goal and then a 4-on-4 goal on a missed coverage. You're doing the right things, you bring it to 2-1 and then it gets away from you and it's 4-1."
Necas scored at 15:39 on a one-timer from Domi to give Carolina a 5-1 lead, and Skjei scored at 9:57 of the third period with a shot from the point for the 6-1 final.

Kotkaniemi left the game with two seconds remaining because of an apparent lower-body injury after a collision with Washington forward Lars Eller.
"I don't like it, but what are you going to do about it?" Brind'Amour said. "I've talked to him. He's not doing great. I don't know the extent of it, but it's not good."
NOTES:The Hurricanes finished the season series 1-2-1 against the Capitals. … It was Aho's first shorthanded goal this season and 13th of his NHL career. Eric Staal leads the Hurricanes all-time with 16. … Washington went 9-3-1 in March. ... Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has his 12-game point streak end (seven goals, eight assists). … Wilson has scored six points (three goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.