Hurricanes down Capitals
The teams split the opening two games in Washington, with the Capitals prevailing in game two. That made things interesting as the teams headed to Raleigh for games three and four.
It was a fairly quiet first period, as neither side could find a way to get in front. The visitors had more chances, 16-11, but at the first intermission, it remained goalless.
Carolina started to dominate proceedings in the second period, where they had 18 shots in the frame. It took them until 12:34 to take the lead. Right off a face-off, Andrei Svechnikov took the puck and went straight to goal, firing his shot past Logan Thompson to give his team the lead.
With a minute left before the second intermission, the Hurricanes doubled their advantage. While on the power play, the hosts used a passing play to make it harder on the Caps. That led to Brent Burns playing it to Jack Roslovic. The latter's wrist shot beat Thompson near side, giving the home team a 2-0 lead.
Washington never truly got themselves into the game and gave up a third a few minutes into the final frame. Making the most of a breakaway, Logan Stankhoven played in Eric Robinson, whose shot took a deflection and flew in. Thompson had no chance of stopping that, and Carolina were in a commanding position.
Still, the hosts added one more for good measure. With less than five minutes left, they had another man advantage. Shayne Gostisbehere went for goal from distance, just missing the target. It bounced off the boards and to Jackson Blake, who snuck it under the Caps' goaltender to put the game firmly out of reach.
Frederik Andersen recorded his fourth playoff shutout, and his first with the Hurricanes as they take a 2-1 series lead. Game four is on Monday, with the Capitals under pressure to avoid going down 3-1 before returning home.
Golden Knights edge Oilers
In the night's other game, the Vegas Golden Knights claimed a dramatic late win over the Edmonton Oilers.
They found themselves 2-0 down after 11 minutes but rallied to end the first period on level terms courtesy of goals from Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith.
William Karlsson scored the only goal of the second period to give them the lead but the game looked destined for overtime when Connor McDavid levelled things up with three minutes to go.
However, Smith had other ideas, grabbing his second goal of the game with one second left on the clock to give Vegas the win.
As a result, the Oilers now lead the series 2-1.