For the Washington Capitals, with the power play came great irresponsibility.
A costly turnover on the power play allowed Jussi Jokinen to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Jokinen put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 12:43 while on the penalty kill. After the Caps retrieved a clearing attempt and restarted the rush from behind the net, Eric Staal poked the puck away from John Carlson as he was heading up ice. Staal then poked the puck again towards Jokinen, who cut through the slot and beat Tomas Vokoun on a breakaway for his sixth goal of the season.
It was a sloppy period in general for the Caps, who continued to turnover the puck even after allowing a shorthanded goal. Yet, Washington did put eight shots on Cam Ward during the first period, which is half of the total it had in 60 minutes in Wednesday's 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Tomas Vokoun made nine saves on 10 shots.