Alex Ovechkin moved up to third in NHL history with his 256th power-play goal for the Capitals (27-8-5), who have lost two of their past three games. Washington defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime Friday.
Carolina (23-14-2), which lost 5-3 at the New York Rangers on Friday, opened a seven-game homestand with its first win in four games (1-3-0).
"We'd lost three in a row," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We needed a win desperately, and Washington's got a huge cushion (for first place in the Metropolitan Division), so we needed to be the desperate team and be the team that needed to win."
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Lucas Wallmark gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 10:38 of the first period with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right face-off circle off a pass from Nino Niederreiter.
"I thought we really had some good chances to start the game and were getting some opportunities and didn't convert," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "Then we take two penalties, they go 5-on-3 and score [eight seconds after the first penalty ended]."
Wallmark has four goals and four assists during a six-game point streak.
"I didn't know if [Niederreiter] saw me from the beginning, but then he made a great pass to me," he said. "I was a little lucky it went it. It was a big goal for us."
Foegele scored off a pass from Jordan Staal on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 2-0 eight seconds into the second period.
