RALEIGH, N.C. _ It started grandly for the Carolina Hurricanes, Warren Foegele scoring 17 seconds into the game.
The second period ended perfectly for the Hurricanes, Teuvo Teravainen a blur down the slot in scoring with 28 seconds left.
But playoff games take a full 60 minutes to decide _ and at times, longer. The games are tight, the play tough, open ice hard to find and everything hard-earned. So it was Thursday between the Hurricanes and Washington Capitals in another game rippling with tension and emotion.
The Canes won Game 4, gutting out a 2-1 victory at PNC Arena that evened the Eastern Conference series, 2-2.
The Canes led 2-1 when Foegele was called for boarding the Caps' T.J. Oshie with 5:08 left in regulation. The Caps' Alex Ovechkin had scored a second-period power-play goal _ from his lethal spot in the left circle _ but the Canes killed off the Foegele penalty as Petr Mrazek stopped a Tom Wilson shot as the power play expired.
Mrazek, who shut out the Caps in Game 3, faced 32 shots Thursday but only Ovechkin could beat him this night as he was named the game's first star.
There was more attrition for the Hurricanes in another increasingly physical game. Forward Jordan Martinook suffered a lower-body injury and did not play after the first period.
That came after the Canes lost forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Micheal Ferland to injuries in Game 3_ Svechnikov challenging Ovechkin in a fight and being knocked unconscious.
Foegele's goal off the rush, on the opening shift of the game, had the crowd of 19,202, a PNC Arena record for a hockey game, rumbling. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin, with a burst of speed up the middle, led the rush and Foegele was there for the finish.
It was Foegele's third goal of the series and sliced off a piece of franchise history as the fastest score to start a game or a period in a playoff game.
Ovechkin's power-play goal at 10:35 of the second pulled the Caps into a 1-1 tie, Ovechkin leaping into the glass, but Teravainen had an answer before the period ended.
On a well-executed rush that caught the Caps flat-footed, Nino Niederreiter took a pass from Sebastian Aho just over the Washington blue line and found Teravainen skating unchecked between the circles. Teravainen beat goalie Braden Holtby to the glove side and the place was loud _ very loud _ again.
It was on to the third period, the pressure building.
The energy level again was high at PNC Arena. Maybe not quite like Monday night and Game 3, when the decibel count was off the charts, but that was the Canes' first home playoff game in 10 years _ an event in itself _ and the Canes won 5-0.
The first game had Svechnikov being knocked out in the fight with Ovechkin, an ugly scene that Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour said left him sick to his stomach. With the Canes also having lost Ferland, forward Patrick Brown was recalled from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL and thrust into his first Stanley Cup playoff game.
Then, Martinook.
The veteran forward banged into defenseman Dmitry Orlov behind the Caps net, their knees bumping and then Martinook's right heel slamming into the end boards. Slow to get up, Martinook finally made his way to the Canes bench, favoring his right leg, and then to the locker room for treatment.
To everyone's surprise, Martinook returned before the first period ended. He tried to skate before the second period began but was unable to go, leaving again and smashing his stick into the wall in the runway back to the room.
Canes defenseman Calvin de Haan, who missed the first three playoff games with an upper-body injury, was able to rejoin the lineup. That made Haydn Fleury a healthy extra.
