Eric Staal broke a tie 51 seconds into the third period and the host Carolina Hurricanes beat Washington 4-2 on Thursday to end the Capitals’ winning streak at nine games.
Phillip Di Giuseppe, Jeff Skinner and Andrej Nestrasil also scored for Carolina, and goalie Eddie Lack made 30 saves.
Staal gave Carolina a 2-1 lead, and Skinner followed with his 15th of the season. Washington trimmed its deficit to one with 5:44 left, but Nestrasil had an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Carolina has earned points in seven of its past 10 games and has won four of six.