Capitals Rally From Three Down To Stun Hurricanes In Overtime Thriller

Back in the friendly confines of Capital One Arena for the first time in two weeks, the Washington Capitals faced a mountain of adversity but delivered a comeback for the ages, stunning the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime on January 31, 2026. The home crowd, starved for hockey after a grueling road trip, was treated to a wild rollercoaster of a game featuring a depleted Capitals roster, a rookie goaltending tandem, and an unforgettable overtime finish.

Before the puck even dropped, the Capitals’ lineup looked more like a patchwork quilt than a well-oiled NHL machine. Injuries had ravaged the roster: Pierre-Luc Dubois had been absent for three months, and Connor McMichael joined him on injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered just two days prior. Top-four defensemen Matt Roy and Martin Fehervary (the latter out for personal reasons as he and his girlfriend expected their first child) were also unavailable. To make matters worse, both regular goaltenders, Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren, were sidelined—Thompson with a day-to-day upper-body issue and Lindgren with a lower-body injury sustained at the end of the previous game. That left the netminding duties to Clay Stevenson, making just his second NHL appearance, and backup Garin Bjorklund, freshly called up from AHL Hershey and still awaiting his league debut.

"It’s just ‘next puck,’" Stevenson said after the game, reflecting on his mindset after surrendering a soft goal early. "Things happen; it’s not the first one that I’ve wanted back. You just try to do your best to give the team the best chance to win, shut it down, make some saves, and then away you go." This game marked the first time in Washington’s 51-year franchise history that the goaltending tandem entered with just one NHL game of experience between them—a fact that would have made even the most optimistic Caps fans nervous.

Despite the odds, the Capitals came out firing in the first period, peppering Carolina’s Frederik Andersen with 19 shots—the most Washington had managed in any first period all season. Yet, the Hurricanes capitalized on their chances, striking first when Mark Jankowski finished off a slick sequence at 13:27, assisted by William Carrier and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. A costly defensive zone turnover by John Carlson led to Sebastian Aho doubling the Canes’ lead at 17:51, sending the visitors to the locker room up 2-0 despite being outshot 19-13.

The second period saw the Hurricanes extend their advantage to 3-0 just over four minutes in, as Shayne Gostisbehere found the back of the net with a sharp shot from the left half wall. Stevenson, visibly frustrated, admitted he wanted that one back immediately. But Washington’s resolve never wavered. Hendrix Lapierre, promoted to the fourth line, sparked the comeback at 7:52, banging home a rebound off Sonny Milano’s setup. "It’s a good play by [Brandon Duhaime] to hound it to Sonny, to realize that I was by myself," Lapierre recounted. "I was calling for it; I knew I was by myself pretty much."

Coach Spencer Carbery heaped praise on Lapierre’s line, noting, "They score a big goal and draw two penalties tonight. So, those are great situations of where your fourth line arguably turns the tide, grabs momentum and gets us that one." The Capitals continued to surge, and at 14:58, Jakob Chychrun kept the puck alive at the blue line before Aliaksei Protas fed Dylan Strome, who tucked the puck through Andersen to make it a one-goal game.

With the arena buzzing and the Capitals dominating puck possession, the third period became a test of patience and belief. Carolina, on their heels, managed just five shots in the final frame as Washington pressed for the equalizer. The breakthrough finally came at 13:18, when Tom Wilson’s heavy hit behind the Canes’ net set up a re-entry, and Protas teed up Chychrun for a wrist shot that beat Andersen blocker side, knotting the score at 3-3. "I just felt like we were playing so well. Even when we were down three, I said to myself on the bench – and [Rasmus Sandin] was sitting next to me – and I was so close to turning to him and telling him, ‘It just feels like we’re winning this game,’" Chychrun said after the game.

The home side nearly snatched victory in regulation, outshooting Carolina 39-22 through three periods and out-attempting the Canes 81-55 at all strengths. The Hurricanes, usually so relentless, found themselves on the receiving end of Washington’s pressure for once. "It felt like they did it to us, probably four out of five [games] in the playoffs last year," Strome reflected. "And it feels like this year in the regular season we did it to them two times, and they did to us once. The games against them go back and forth where teams really get momentum. And they're great with momentum; they come hard, they forecheck, they get shots on net. It seems like they're relentless. And when we do that to teams, like what we've been talking about the last couple weeks where we haven't really been able to do that to teams. So, when we get that opportunity, and we pounce on it, even in the third, even after we tied, it seemed like we were just going quick up, quick up, and they couldn't defend that. So it's nice to do it to [other] teams for once. And we showed we can play that way."

Overtime brought more drama. After a tense opening, Ethen Frank sent rookie Justin Sourdif into the offensive zone. Sourdif exchanged passes with Carlson and fired a shot that Andersen stopped but failed to control. The puck squirted loose, and Sourdif pounced, burying the game-winner at 1:42—his first NHL overtime goal. "It was pretty cool," Sourdif admitted. "Especially [because] I made a couple of mistakes in OT there – not very smart plays – so I’m glad it worked out. I was actually trying to change, and then we kept getting odd man rushes. So I stayed out there; you can’t take those for granted. But no, it’s pretty cool."

The Hurricanes challenged for goaltender interference, but after a brief review, the goal stood. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour was left exasperated: "From opening puck drop to the end, I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a 60-minute game where we were that bad. Somehow, we managed a point. There is zero way we should have; they dominated us from the start."

With the win, the Capitals closed the gap in the Metropolitan Division playoff race, earning consecutive victories for the first time in nearly two months—both in dramatic fashion beyond regulation. For a battered squad with little NHL experience in net, it was a night to remember and perhaps the spark they desperately needed as the playoff chase heats up.