In front of 56,961 fans who gathered at Carter-Finley Stadium in North Carolina, the Carolina Hurricanes were unapologetic in a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals in a Stadium Series game.
The Hurricanes, who became the 28th different NHL organization to play an outdoor game, handed the Capitals their first loss in an outdoor game. Heading into Saturday night, the Capitals had a perfect record of three wins in as many games.
Carolina wins a third game in a row and the team signs a 10th victory in its last 11 games.
Jesperi Koktaniemi had one of his good games this season with a goal and an assist. With that net, Kotkaniemi hit the 10-goal mark for the second straight season.
It was the former Canadiens who opened the scoring in the first period. After just 2:11 of play, Teuvo Teravainen’s pass deflected off Kotkaniemi’s skate in front of the net and the Finn opened the scoring with a bit of luck.
The Hurricanes then opened the machine in the middle period with three goals. In the first minutes of the engagement, Paul Stastny jumped on a return in front of the net and pushed the puck behind the goal line to double the lead with his 7th goal of the season.
Then moments later, as Carolina took advantage of the power play, Martin Necas unleashed a powerful one-timer that left goaltender Darcy Kuemper no chance. Kotkaniemi had an assist on that goal.
Less than three minutes later, Teravainen dealt the Capitals a crushing blow when he capitalized on a superb passing game with Necas to make it 4-0. Goalkeeper Frederik Andersen collected an assist on the play thanks to a long recovery which allowed Teravainen and Necas to attack in excess.
Tom Wilson denied Andersen a shutout midway through the third period with his third goal of the campaign.
Andersen was near perfect in the win as he stopped 23 of 24 shots he faced. At the other end of the rink, Kuemper allowed four goals on 34 shots.
The Hurricanes will be back in action Tuesday against the Blues, while the Capitals will meet the Red Wings.