Canes finally get edge on Capitals

RALEIGH -- In many ways, the Carolina Hurricanes' 3-0 victory Friday over the Washington Capitals was about the moments.

It was the Canes' Eric Staal making a steal to set up Jussi Jokinen's shorthanded goal in the first period and give Carolina the lead.

It was Staal again working hard on special teams, whacking at the puck along the boards to get it out of the Carolina zone on another penalty kill.

It was Jokinen scoring again, this time on a power play with 17.7 seconds left in the second period, and coming within a nice glove save by Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun of getting a hat trick.

It was Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk challenging the Caps' Alex Ovechkin early in the game, refusing to give any quarter. It was defenseman Derek Joslin dropping the gloves to fight Matt Hendricks and a darting move by Jeff Skinner when he deftly maneuvered the puck past two defensemen to get off a shot.

It was Alexei Ponikarovsky, in his last game with the Hurricanes, getting in a team-high six hits. Ponikarovsky would learn after the game he had been traded to the New Jersey Devils.

And it was the Canes' Cam Ward in net.

"He's such a rock for us," defenseman Bryan Allen said.

Ward had 23 saves in his second shutout of the season and the 18th of his career. Some were sharp and some routine, but Ward stopped them all as the Hurricanes beat the Caps for the first time this season.

"(The guys) definitely deserved the shutout," Ward said. "We worked our (rear ends) off and played a solid 60-minute game.

"It's a tough team to play against. They play a different style now and they're looking for that low-scoring (game) after their traditional 6-5 games in the past. You've got to be careful because you're not doing a lot of work but know they have a ton of skill over there."

The Caps (25-19-2) had beaten the Canes three times this season, the most recent of which was a narrow 2-1 win Sunday in Washington despite being outshot 44-24. But the Canes (17-24-8) limited Ovechkin to two shots Friday and the Caps to eight shots in the third period.

Jiri Tlusty, who was denied on a shorthanded try in the first period, scored a late goal for the Canes to seal it.

Almost 13 minutes into the first, the Canes were on the penalty kill when Staal stretched out to knock the puck away from defenseman John Carlson - "Eric used his 10-foot stick," Ward joked - and allowed Jokinen to roar in and beat Vokoun with a quick glove-side shot.

"Eric made a great play and after that I was pretty wide open," Jokinen said.

Jokinen's power-play goal came after Vokoun stopped Jay Harrison shot's from the slot. Jokinen gathered in the rebound and knocked it in.

Jokinen had gone 25 games without a goal before scoring Sunday against the Caps. Now he has three in two games against Washington and seven for the season.

"It's a big win for us," Jokinen said. "We still feel our division is wide open."