Defenseman Dmitry Orlov's power-play goal with 2:55 remaining in the third period gave the Washington Capitals the lead en route to a 4-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C.

Orlov's goal came just seconds after Washington's 5-on-3 advantage had expired, but the Capitals still had an extra skater.

Captain Alex Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas each scored in the second period for the Capitals, who improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. John Carlson finished the scoring with an empty-net goal and Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves.

Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen notched 21 saves in the loss.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nino Niederreiter each scored in the third period for the Hurricanes, who tied the score with 6:28 remaining.

Carolina has gone six consecutive games without a power-play goal. But the Niederreiter tally came just after an extra-man situation expired, so the scoring chance was set up when the Hurricanes were on a power play.

Niederreiter's goal was his fourth of the season and first since Oct. 28.

Orlov has four goals this season, including two across a three-game span.

The teams combined for 28 shots without a goal before Ovechkin converted with 8:02 left in the second period. Orlov skated with the puck into the slot and sent a pass to Ovechkin, who had a clear shot into the net.

That pushed Ovechkin's career goals total against the Hurricanes to 44.

The Capitals doubled the advantage 59 seconds later. This time, a Protas pass intended for Ovechkin bounced off Carolina defenseman Tony DeAngelo's skate and into the net.

The 20-year-old Protas was credited with the goal. It was his first career tally coming in his 11th game.

These teams were long divisional rivals, but they didn't face each other last season because of the pandemic-impacted divisional alignments. They hadn't met since Jan. 13, 2020.

--Field Level Media