Capitals clinch playoff berth with win against Hurricanes

-- The Washington Capitals clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by rallying for a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Thursday."It's awesome, we're so excited," Capitals forward Jakub Vrana said. If we play like that for the remaining games, we will be in good shape."Nic Dowd tipped Nick Jensen's shot from the right-side boards at 15:04 of the third to put Washington ahead 3-2 after Vrana took a pass through the neutral zone from Evgeny Kuznetsov and scored five-hole to tie it 2-2 at 1:35.Video: WSH@CAR: Vrana goes five-hole with smooth backhand"It wasn't pretty and I didn't even know it went in," Dowd said of the game-winning goal. I just tried to put it where I wanted, and it was good to see it go in."Warren Foegele carried the puck from Carolina's blue line, cut past Jensen in the right face-off circle and scored at the top of the crease to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 12:30 of the second period.Holtby made 24 saves, including a glove save on Niederreiter alone in the slot with 7:50 remaining in the third period.Video: WSH@CAR: Holtby shuts down Niederreiter in front"We need [Holtby] to be playing at a high level, and he's extremely focused right now," Connolly said. We're in a good spot and we've got to remember that." -- Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook  Washington forward Alex Ovechkin remained at 49 goals trying to become the third player in NHL history with at least eight 50-goal seasons. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup, the Stanley Cup Playoffs logo, the Stanley Cup Final logo, Center Ice name and logo, NHL Conference logos, NHL Winter Classic name, and The Biggest Assist Happens Off The Ice are registered trademarks and NHL.TV, Vintage Hockey word mark and logo, The Game Lives Where You Do, NHL Winter Classic logo, NHL Heritage Classic name and logo, NHL Stadium Series name and logo, NHL All-Star logo, NHL Face-Off name and logo, NHL.