raleigh, north carolina —Sebastian Aho scored the game-tying power-play goal with 1:51 left and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Friday night.
For Carolina, Jake Guentzel had two goals and one assist, including an empty-netter, and Martin Necas also scored. Yakov Slavin had two assists and Piotr Kochetkov made 14 saves.
“That was the way I fought to get back into this game,” Aho said. “It says a lot of good things about our team.”
Washington's Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the first period and Darcy Kuemper made 41 saves. The Capitals have lost five straight (0-4-1) but are still tied with the Red Wings with 82 points, one less than the Islanders in the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I thought we fought,” Capitals manager Spencer Carberry said. “We were obviously under siege for most of that game, but I think our players fought and tried to protect the lead.”
This is the fourth time in less than three weeks that Ovechkin has scored two goals in one game, bringing his total to 10 goals in 10 games. Of his 851 career goals, 50 came against the Hurricanes.
It took some time for the Hurricanes, who were looking to bounce back from a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, to get their offense back on track. He was in danger of losing consecutive games within regulation for the first time since a four-game losing streak in December.
“Sometimes it happens,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “It doesn't necessarily matter how you portray it, but I think it was a fulfilling 60 minutes for him.”
(at) Buffalo 4, Philadelphia 2: Rasmus Dahlin said to those counting the Buffalo Sabers suddenly in contention for the cutthroat Eastern Conference playoffs after Friday night's 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. , reacted defiantly.
“We're a team that never gives up,” Dahlin said. “We have a strong core here and we'll see how it goes once the last game is over. All we can do is play our best hockey every game.”
And don't even consider the Flyers, manager John Tortorella insisted, even after Philadelphia's record reached a season-worst 0-4-2.
“I was encouraged by a lot of things in our game,” he said of the game in which the Flyers outscored their opponents 33-19. “As close calls as we've had in the last few weeks. So that's the way we have to play. Obviously we have to bury some of our chances. ”
Despite the loss, the Flyers remain in the playoffs with 83 points, but fell from third place in the Metropolitan Division standings to the second and final wild card in the East. The New York Islanders also sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 83 points, one game behind the Flyers.
The race is very close, with a four-point difference between 8th place Philadelphia and 12th place Sabres.
Grand Rapids 3, Rockford 0
Grand Rapids goaltender Sebastian Cossa stopped 24 shots in a 3-0 win against the Rockford IceHogs in AHL action Friday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
Kossa's victory extends his home scoring streak as a goalkeeper to 13 games (9 wins, 0 losses, 4 draws) and his overall scoring streak to 19 games.
The Griffins won the first round of the playoffs with a bye, and the magic number to advance to the Central District semifinals was one point.
America 6, Czech Republic 0
Lyla Edwards became the first black player to score for the U.S. women's hockey team with two goals, Alex Carpenter scored three and the United States defeated the Czech Republic by six at the Women's World Championship in Utica, New York on Friday night. Broke with -0.
Edwards and Carpenter each scored 59 seconds apart to make it 3-0 with 2:31 left in the second period.
When Carpenter scored his third goal for a 6-0 lead, Czech had just nine shots on goal midway through the third.
Clara Peslarova faced 48 shots on goal.
The United States will play Finland again on Saturday. The Czech Republic, popularly known in English as the Czech Republic, will face another tough challenge Sunday against Canada.
playoff tracker
atlantic ocean
▶ Bruins (105)
▶ Panthers (101)
▶ Maple leaves (95)
metropolitan
▶ Rangers (106)
▶ Hurricane (103)
▶ Flyers (83)
Wildcard
▶ Lightning (93)
▶ Islanders (83)
(Top 2 wild card teams advance to playoffs)
▶ Capital (82)
▶ Red Wings (82)
▶ Penguin (81)
▶ Sabers (77)
▶ Devils (76)
If the playoffs start on Saturday
Eastern Conference Playoffs bracket
▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Islanders (WC2)
▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)
▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)
▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Flyers
Remaining games of wild card race
Flyer (83 points)
▶ Home (2): devils, capitals
▶ Away (3): Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Rangers
Islanders (83)
▶ Home (4): predator, ranger, canadian, penguin
▶ away (2): Rangers, Devils
Capital (82 points)
▶ Home (3): Senators, Lightning, Bruins
▶ Away (3): wing, saber, flyer
red wing (82)
▶ Home (4): Rangers, Sabres, Capitals, Canadiens
▶ Away (3): penguin, leaves, canadian
Michigan area hockey this week
Friday
▶ New York Rangers 4, Red Wings 3
▶ Grand Rapids 3, Rockford 0
▶ NTDP U18 5, Muskegon 4 (SO)
▶ Madison 5, NTDP U17's 2
Saturday
▶ Muskegon, NTDP U18, 7 p.m.
▶ NTDP U17 at Madison, 8 p.m.
Sunday
▶ Buffalo at Red Wings, 1 p.m. (TST/97.1)
▶ Rockford, Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/106.9/1300)
Wednesday
▶ Grand Rapids 5, Chicago 4
Monday
▶ Red Wings 4, Tampa Bay 2
