Photo: Gregg Forwerck

Twenty hours after notching their ninth straight win, the Capitals slogged down to Raleigh, NC with a depleted lineup and groggy eyes. Washington weathered an early storm from the Hurricanes in the opening 20, with backup netminder Philipp Grubauer holding strong.

In the second, Phillip Di Giuseppe, who has the most pretentious name in the NHL, capitalized on some lazy and confused back checking by the second line and Alex Ovechkin. Carolina continued to pepper Grubauer with shots, but Nicklas Backstrom, in the lineup after leaving Wednesday’s game early, unleashed a laser wrist shot past Eddie Lack after some fancy feet by TJ Oshie.

The game was decided in the third. It did not go well for Washington. Eric Staal barely got the puck across the goal line for the go-ahead marker before Jeff Skinner added another four minutes later. Alex Ovechkin did his best to spark a comeback with an epic shot, but it was not enough. Andrej Nestrasil, who is not a cold medicine, added an empty netter. Canes beat Caps 4-2.

• It’s easy to forget Philipp Grubauer exists, but he did his best Braden Holtby tonight. Grubi was very good in net. Carolina dominated possession, but the young German netminder gave the Capitals a chance in a game they frankly had no business being in.
• Still, it was Matt Niskanen who made the save of the game, sweeping a puck off the goal line to keep the game scoreless in the second period.
• Ostensibly, Zach Sill is with the Capitals to punch people in the face, but he was solid for the second night in a row. Hmm.
• The Hurricanes power play has been struggling lately. Up against Washington’s fourth ranked PK, they were no better, which kept the game within reach.
• Last night, Washington’s second line was magisterial. Tonight, they were awful. They got dominated five-on-five.
• I was going to name everyone else who got dominated five-on-five, but I’ll save some words. In short: everybody save for the fourth line, though Caps’ third period push made things look than were.
• So hey, the fourth line. Not bad! Andre Burakovsky was had a plus-seven even-strength shot attempt differential, one of the few Caps forwards above water. Brooks Laich, who hadn’t notched at point since like 1993, had four shots on goal and set up Ovechkin’s tally with some great forechecking.
• So yes, Alex Ovechkin. Twenty-one on the year, 496 in his career. It was another pretty one. He was great in the third, doing his best to will Washington to a comeback.
• The story was the same for Washington’s third D pair. Thanks (?) Chorney and Connor Carrick held their own while most of their compatriots got lit up. Chorney was Washington’s best defensemen Thursday.
• Tom Wilson has been trying his best to play hockey lately, but he keeps getting sent to the box. A roughing and goalie interference call means Wilson now has 96 penalty minutes, more three times more than anyone else on Washington’s roster. He is third in the league in PIMs.
• The Capitals have the NHL’s second best power play. It never saw the ice tonight. Despite Washington’s ugly five-on-five play, that might have been the difference tonight.
• Perspective: the Capitals won 55 games in 2015, more than any other team.

Forever and always.

From the Winter Classic to the playoff run to the nine game winning streak, you have made writing for this site in 2015 so much fun. Whether it was lovely or awful, we did it for you. And we’ll keep right on going in 2016. Hopefully, it’ll be a year to remember. Don’t slow down at all, friends.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Canes