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The Hurricanes entered the RBC Center coming off a hard fought overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers last night. The overtime loss was the first point Carolina has earned in three games. Hoping to improve from over time loss, to full-fledged win, the Hurricanes hosted their southeast division rival the Washington Capitals today. The Canes have not fared well against the Capitals this season losing twice to them in the preseason, and dropping two regular season games to them as well. The last time backup goaltender Michael Leighton faced the Caps they brought a firing squad, leaving Raleigh with a 5-1 victory. However, with Leighton taking over as the temporary head net-minder, he has performed well under pressure. With a new coach and a new spark the Canes came out full blast in hopes to steal two points from the division leading Capitals.

In the first period of action, both teams put a number of shots on goal, but never generated final results. Eight minutes into the game Ryan Bayda was charged 2-minutes for high-sticking and the Capitals went on the power play. Carolina killed off the penalty and opened up the scoring three minutes later. Ray Whitney put back a rebound off of Jose Theodore, caused by a Joni Pitkanen slap shot. The Hurricanes went up 1-0 throughout the rest of the first period.

Carolina and Washington both had opportunities on the power play in the second period, but they were able to kill off the advantage from one another. With mere seconds left in the period, Alex Ovechkin was on a break away and was hooked down by Joni Pitkanen, Ovechkin was awarded a penalty shot with 1.2 seconds on the clock. Ovechkin swooped in like a bird of prey, but was shut down by the left pad of Michael Leighton. The Hurricanes held on to their slim lead through the entire second, despite being out shot 27-19 the first two periods.

Going into the last twenty minutes of play the Hurricanes looked energetic, especially goaltender Michael Leighton who had stopped nearly thirty shots on goal. Much of the first eight minutes were spent in an on ice game of tug-o-war, but just past the eight-minute mark Washington capitalized on the power play. Alex Ovechkin passed a zinger to Nicklas Backstrom who burned the puck into the up-stairs attic of the net. With the game tied the Canes were in danger of an unfavorable momentum shift. As the clock wound down to the last five minutes there was a scrum on the Washington goal crease Eric Staal poked the puck out of the pile and sending a backhander past Jose Theodore. The Canes had regained their electric persona and a 2-1 lead. The clock had wound down to two minutes left in regulation; Ray Whitney came in on the wing and put an 8-foot wrist shot past Theodore for his second goal of the game. The Hurricanes rode their 3-1 cushion until expiration, coming up with a big win for the Carolina Hurricanes.

This win not only kept the Hurricanes on the heels of the Capitals in the standings, it marked the first victory since the return of Coach Paul Maurice. Michael Leighton played his best game stopping 38 of 39 shots and stepped up at the most opportune time for Carolina. The Canes come away from their four game homestead with only three points, but hopefully has found some consistent rhythm and chemistry for the remainder of the month. The Canes have a tough rest-of-the-month, as they will be facing a handful of respectable opponents including the New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, The Canadiens of Montreal, and the red hot Boston Bruins. The Canes are 4-5-1 in their last ten games.

Personal Note: It was good to see some kinetic energy from the Canes, especially against the Capitals. I was greatly impressed by the great performance of Michael Leighton tonight, and it seems so was Coach Paul Maurice. I'm not yet sold that the coaching change was the best move, but whatever it is that the Canes needed I hope they found it. The Caniac Nation loves this team and we have a great thirst to return to the Cup to Raleigh.