Canes drop preseason opener to Caps

WASHINGTON — The Carolina Hurricanes opened their preseason exhibition schedule Monday with a 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.

Tom Wilson and Derek Roy scored in the third period for the Caps, who also were playing their preseason opener.

Eddie Lack, obtained in a June trade from the Vancouver Canucks, was the starting goalie for the Canes and turned back all 22 shots he faced in the first two periods. Drew MacIntyre replaced Lack in the third period.

A three-on-three overtime period was held at the end of regulation, and the Canes did score in the OT. Kris Versteeg picked up the goal off a pass from Eric Staal on a three-on-one rush.

The Caps outshot the Canes 31-26 in the game — getting six shots from Alex Ovechkin — and blocked 19 Carolina shots. The Canes were 0-for-2 on the power play and the Caps 0-3.

Defenseman Danny Biega led the Canes in ice time (23:25) and Brett Pesce had a team-high four blocked shots in 18:27. Biega and forward Phil Di Giuseppe each had four shots to lead the Canes.

The Canes’ four centers all came away with an edge in draws, with Brody Sutter winning 10 of 13 faceoffs and Jordan Staal 14 of 19.

Braden Holtby and Dan Ellis split the goaltending for the Caps.

“You could see there were some mistakes here tonight on situations we haven’t been able to cover (in camp),” Canes coach Bill Peters said. “We haven’t been able to cover everything and if it’s a first-year guy or a guy who’s never been in our organization, it’s somewhat understandable.”

The Canes continue the two-game road trip with a preseason game Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Canes drop preseason opener to Caps."