The Capitals were stunned by the Carolina Hurricanes in double overtime, 4-3 in Game 7 of their first round series, blowing a two goal lead at home and officially ending their reign as Stanley Cup champions.
Justin Williams,聽known as “Mr. Game 7” throughout his career, scored the game- and series-clinching goal for Carolina, a disappointing end to the Caps’ second longest postseason overtime game in franchise history.
The Caps raced to an early 2-0 lead, as Andre Burakovsky and Tom Wilson each scored goals in the game’s first seven minutes. In the second period, Sebastian Aho scored a shorthanded goal to cut the lead in half before Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first goal of the series to get the lead back up to two.
But Carolina would rally. Teuvo Teravainen scored his third goal of the series to send the the game to second intermission with the Hurricanes trailing only 3-2. Early in the third period, Jordan Staal scored the equalizer to stun the crowd at Capital One Arena, and eventually, force overtime.
The result marked the first time in the series the road team won.
The loss drops the Caps to 4-8 in Game 7s since 2008, and their third in the last four. In Game 7 overtime games, the Caps are now 2-4 all-time.
