Lindgren, Capitals get back on track with win against Hurricanes

WASHINGTON -- Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves to help give the Washington Capitals a 3-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on Friday.

Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas and Jakub Vrana scored for the Capitals (22-8-2), who had lost two in a row after winning four straight.

“I think we did a good job being ready for this one,” Protas said. “We knew what to expect and we were ready. We did a great job from the start dealing with the breakouts and when something didn’t work, [Lindgren] was there for us. That’s a big win for our team.”

Seth Jarvis scored for the Hurricanes (20-11-1), who had won two in a row and have lost six straight road games (0-5-1). Pyotr Kochetkov made 19 saves.

“We were good at times, but just not for the full 60 (minutes),” Carolina forward Tyson Jost said. “That one stings. It's tough because you do it right for so long, but then there's just a couple little lapses and it kind of bites you. It was a good game, a playoff-like game, but that one stings."

Protas gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 19:17 of the first period, tipping Andrew Mangiapane’s point shot past Kochetkov.

Lindgren kept the Hurricanes scoreless when he robbed Jost with a windmilling glove save at 7:42 of the second period.

"I was on the ice,” Vrana said. “I can't describe it. It was amazing, looks like Dominik Hasek out there. It was a great save, and it got the building going.”

Vrana extended it to 2-0 at 16:11 after he received a pass from Hendrix Lapierre on a 3-on-2 rush and scored far side with a wrist shot from the left circle.

“Massive goal, massive goal,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “[Lapierre] moves that puck up. A lefty coming down left wing to score. … That’s what [Vrana’s] capable of doing and that’s why he continues to play and make arguments to get in our lineup.”

McMichael made it 3-0 at 19:33, taking a pass in the high slot from Martin Fehervary, turning and scoring on a high wrist shot.

“Those are brutal,” Brind’Amour said of the two final-minute goals. “Start of games or start of periods and end of periods, that’s what you kind of eat going back into the locker room. That’s not a good taste in your mouth. I guess at the end of the day that was the game. Two goals in the last minutes can’t happen.”

McMichael passed the injured Alex Ovechkin for the team lead with 16 goals.

“Any time a guy with that scoring ability goes down, a lot of guys feel like they need to step up and I think we’ve had contributions from all over the lineup, not just one or two guys,” McMichael said. “It feels nice whenever I can help the team, but a lot of guys have stepped up in his absence.”

Jarvis cut it to 3-1 at 10:22 of the third period when he took a return pass from Sebastian Aho on the rush and beat Lindgren short side from the right circle.

McMichael appeared to increase it to 4-1 at 14:01, but Carolina challenged the play for goaltender interference against John Carlson and the goal was waved off following video review.

NOTES: Washington improved to 8-2-0 following a loss this season. … Capitals forward Pierre-Luc Dubois recorded an assist and has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past nine games. … Carolina killed off both of Washington’s power plays and remains perfect on the penalty kill in December (20-for-20). … Aho, who had an assist, has 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 29 career regular-season games against the Capitals.