Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 shots and the Washington Capitals benefitted from goals late in the first two periods to defeat the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division on Friday night.

Aliaksei Protas, Jakub Vrana and Connor McMichael scored for the Capitals, who ended a two-game slide.

Seth Jarvis scored for the Hurricanes, who were unable to recapture the momentum coming off a 3-1-0 homestand. Pyotr Kochetkov made 19 saves.

The Capitals had scored a total of three goals in their previous two games combined, so they were looking for a lift.

The first one came when Protas tipped in a shot with 43 seconds to play in the first period off a delivery from Andrew Mangiapane. It was his first goal in four games.

Then Washington scored twice in the last four minutes of the second period.

Vrana’s goal came with 3:49 to play. McMichael got his goal with 27 seconds remaining.

Vrana, who had missed a few weeks with an injury, hadn’t scored since Nov. 17. McMichael posted his first goal in six games and his team-leading 16th of the season.

Jarvis’ shot beat Lindgren on the short side with 9:38 to play in the game, so the Hurricanes avoided a shutout. It came on one of Carolina’s eight shots in the final period.

The Hurricanes began the third period with a good flurry of offense, but lack of execution around the net turned out to be costly.

With about six minutes to play, the Capitals appeared to score and restore a three-goal lead. The goal was wiped out because of goalie interference after review.

Lindgren, who won his 10th game of the season, joined teammate Logan Thompson (12) with a double-digit win total.

Both teams were 0-for-2 on power plays.

The teams have now split two meetings this season. They won’t meet again until April.

–Field Level Media