LDN - Sports

Capitals control Hurricanes in 6-1 win

[January 24, 2017] WASHINGTON -- When their top lines are producing, the Washington Capitals are dangerous. Lately they've been getting production across the lineup.

Dmitry Orlov scored twice, Braden Holtby made 25 saves and the Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 6-1 on Monday night at Verizon Center.

Washington, which increased its points streak to 14 consecutive games (12-0-2), got a goal and an assist apiece from Justin Williams and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

"We're feeling good in here," said Capitals right winger T.J. Oshie, who added his 18th of the season -- giving him a goal in four straight games.

"We've got all four lines rolling, and with our depth and our ability, when every line's going, we're tough to stop."

Lars Eller closed out the scoring. Andre Burakovsky had three assists and Karl Alzner added two.

It was Orlov's second career two-goal game.

"A couple nice shots by him. Just calm and poised, making good plays," Alzner said of his fellow blue-liner. "This is the confident Orly. It's fun to watch."

The Capitals (32-9-6) are fun to watch these days as well. They have scored four or more goals in eight consecutive games and are 19-2-3 in their last 24.

Jordan Staal scored for Carolina (21-19-7), which led 1-0 before dropping its fourth straight.

Cam Ward, who lost to the Penguins 7-1 in his last start, had 19 saves for Carolina.

"They're playing so well that once you get to 3-1, 4-1, you're going to have to really start taking some chances or capitalize on the power play to catch up," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "Obviously, we were not able to do that."

Washington had scored first in 10 straight games, but Staal snapped that streak less than five minutes in.

With Oshie in the penalty box for holding, Staal found an opening in the slot and one-timed a pretty pass from Elias Lindholm past Holtby at 4:39 for his 10th goal of the season.

After going seven games without a power-play goal, the Hurricanes have connected in each of their last two games but finished 1 of 4.

The Capitals tied it with a power-play goal of their own at 11:44 when Orlov's shot from the top of the left circle deflected off Staal's stick and by Ward.

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"They got a quick faceoff play there. We were 100 percent ready for it," Staal said. "I was kind of just trying to get out of the way and it hit my stick. Ninety-nine percent of the time it's going to either miss the net or be a flubber and it went top corner, so it's an unfortunate play."

With 2:55 left in the period, Washington took a 2-1 lead when Williams lofted a shot from the point through a screen for his 17th goal of the season and eighth in the last 11 games.

Washington had only four shots on goal in the second period but scored on two.

Orlov scored his second goal at 8:06 of the period on a blast from just inside the blue line off a pass from Brett Connolly. It was his fourth goal of the season.

"He's got a tremendous shot obviously," Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin said. "We always tell him to shoot more pucks."

Kuznetsov made it 4-1 with 1:20 left in the second period when he scored off the rebound of his own shot.

"I know when I'm looking at the chances ... it was a lot closer game than maybe the score indicated, but when we had some chances we buried them," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "I knew that our whole group was going to have to contribute tonight because they come at you with four lines."

NOTES: The Capitals 14-game point streak is tied for the second longest in franchise history and is their longest since they had a point in a franchise-record 15 straight games during the 2009-10 season. ... Washington RW T.J. Oshie was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week on Monday. Oshie had six points (three goals, three assists) in three games. ... Capitals D John Carlson (lower-body injury) missed his fourth game. ... Carolina Ds Noah Hanifin and Matt Tennyson returned to the lineup after serving as healthy scratches against the Columbus Blue Jackets. C Jay McClement, D Klas Dahlbeck and D Ryan Murphy were the Carolina scratches. ... The Hurricanes played their first of just three Monday night games this season.

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