Carolina Hurricanes edge past Washington Capitals in preseason shootout

The Carolina Hurricanes went into their first home preseason game wanting to get another look at three young defensemen, smooth out their power play and beat the Washington Capitals in the process.

The three D-man — Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce — all had good moments and some not-so-good. The Canes got a power-play goal from Nathan Gerbe and in the end claimed a 4-3 victory in a shootout.

Jeff Skinner and Gerbe scored shootout goals for the Canes (3-2), who now have won three straight in preseason. Canes goalie Eddie Lack made some strong saves in the three-on-three overtime and then stopped three of four Washington shooters in the shootout, allowing only a goal to T.J. Oshie.

“We got a little bit of everything tonight,” Canes coach Bill Peters said. “It was an entertaining three-on-three, a little bit out of control at times, and an entertaining shootout.”

Elias Lindholm had a first-period goal for the Canes, beating Caps goalie Braden Holtby with a quick shot from the slot. Riley Nash unloaded a one-timer in the second period and Gerbe did the same on the power play as the Canes rallied after falling behind 3-1 in the second.

With the player evaluation window closing quickly before the regular season, Peters wanted to pair each of the rookie defensemen with older players and test them out against a Caps lineup that included forwards Alex Ovechkin, Oshie and Justin Williams.

Twenty seconds into the game, Ovechkin had a goal. Pushing the puck through Slavin, he whipped a shot past Lack.

“It was quite the moment for Jaccob Slavin, starting the game,” Peters said. “That’s the National Hockey League, so good experience for those guys.”

After Stanislav Galiev scored about four minutes later for a 2-1 lead, Peters made a defensive switch, pairing Faulk with Hanifin and Slavin with Michal Jordan. He later said Slavin played better as the game went along.

“You have to keep your head up when things don’t go your way and I thought they did that and they’ll get better,” Canes captain Eric Staal said of the young D-men.

Lack allowed the two goals in the first five minutes of the game, saying he was “chasing the game.” The third Caps goal came when Michael Latta banged in a shot out of a scrum for a 3-1 lead.

“I had to calm myself down a little bit and focus on the next save, the next save, and that’s what I did,” Lack said.

Nash countered 30 seconds after Latta's goal. Penalties against Washington’s Andre Burakovsky and Karl Alzner gave the Canes a two-man advantage and Gerbe converted off an Eric Staal pass on the 5-on-3 -- the Canes were 0-for-11 on the power play in their first four preseason games.

Hanifin, the Canes’ first-round draft pick this year, played his first exhibition game at PNC Arena and had more than 25 minutes of ice time.

“He’s getting good experience and we’ll have some tough decisions to make,” Peters said.

Holtby played the first two periods for Washington, facing 23 shots and allowing three goals, before being replaced by former Canes goalie Justin Peters. He was beaten in the shootout by Skinner, once a roommate while with the Canes.

The Canes, who have 27 players left on their training-camp roster, close out the preseason Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena. Peters will gave Cam Ward in net for what will serve as a final dress rehearsal.

"It's time to get our group together," the Canes' Peters said.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Carolina Hurricanes edge past Washington Capitals in preseason shootout."