Capitals gain on Canes in division race

Carolina braces for Tuesday showdown

TAMPA, FLA. -- Now, it gets interesting.

While the Carolina Hurricanes were falling 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on one side of Florida on Saturday, the Washington Capitals were rolling to a 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers.

The Canes went into the evening with a chance to clinch the Southeast Division title. Instead, they now face what may be a winner-take-all showdown with the Capitals in Washington on Tuesday.

"We wanted this one but it didn't happen, and we've got to leave this one here and look forward to Tuesday in Washington," Hurricanes center Eric Staal said. "We have to play a complete game and get a win."

The Canes fired 39 shots at Lightning goalie Karri Ramo, missed the net 12 times and had 10 shots blocked while going 0-for-7 on the power play one night after they tied a franchise record with five power-play goals in a 7-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

They rested Staal, Erik Cole and Sergei Samsonov in the third period of that blowout, but the Canes should have saved some goals for Saturday.

"We were trying to do the right things," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "We couldn't seem to find a rebound or a second-chance opportunity. They blocked it. We missed it. It bounced over our stick. It wasn't clean out there."

After any number of highlight-reel saves, including a sprawling, point-blank stop on Filip Kuba early in the third period, Jeff Halpern's harmless-looking wrist shot from the right wing slipped past Cam Ward's glove with 14:17 to play for the winner.

Halpern's goal went against the trend of the season series, which saw the Lightning outscore the Canes 10-2 in the second period of the first six meetings and the Canes return the favor 11-3 in the third.

The Lightning duly scored in the second Saturday, but kept the Canes off the board in the third as well, with Ramo making 12 of his 38 saves in the third and stopping the final 29 shots he faced.

The game started well for the Canes with an early goal from Chad LaRose, his second point in as many games since missing seven weeks with a broken lower left leg. LaRose set Trevor Letowski up for a goal on a two-on-one Friday and Letowski repaid the favor Saturday.

LaRose fought off a hit from Brad Lukowich in the neutral zone to get the puck to Letowski, then beat Lukowich to the net to get the Canes on the board.

With LaRose in the box to open the second period, the Lightning tied the score when Dan Boyle's pass sent Jussi Jokinen between Tim Gleason and Glen Wesley for an open look at Ward. The Canes killed off 30 seconds of two-man advantage later in the second to keep the score 1-1.

The Canes had three power plays in the second half of the third period after Halpern's goal put the Lightning ahead, including most of the final two minutes after Kuba tripped Staal on his way to the net, but to no avail.

"We forced a couple plays that weren't there," Hurricanes forward Jeff Hamilton said. "Give them credit -- they did a good job blocking shots and clearing out second chances. But we had opportunities. We just didn't bury them tonight."

Even if the Canes had taken care of business Saturday with the same efficiency they dispatched the Thrashers on Friday, Washington's win still would have kept the Capitals alive.

Combined with Carolina's loss, though, it's anyone's division -- a two-point Hurricanes lead with three games left to play, the first and most significant Tuesday night, when the Canes will have another chance to clinch with a regulation win.

"That's a big game," Laviolette said. "We've got to come up with four points. It doesn't matter how we do it."