"In many ways, the Carolina Hurricanes' 3-0 victory Friday over the Washington Capitals was about the moments.
It was the Canes' Eric Staal making a steal to set up Jussi Jokinen's shorthanded goal in the first period and give Carolina the lead.
It was Staal again working hard on special teams, whacking at the puck along the boards to get it out of the Carolina zone on another penalty kill.
It was Jokinen scoring again, this time on a power play with 17.7 seconds left in the second period, and coming within a nice glove save by Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun of getting a hat trick.
It was Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk challenging the Caps' Alex Ovechkin early in the game, refusing to give any quarter. It was defenseman Derek Joslin dropping the gloves to fight Matt Hendricks and a darting move by Jeff Skinner when he deftly maneuvered the puck past two defensemen to get off a shot.
It was Alexei Ponikarovsky, in his last game with the Hurricanes, getting in a team-high six hits. Ponikarovsky would learn after the game he had been traded to the New Jersey Devils."
