WASHINGTON -- Jeff Skinner had two goals and an assist, Justin Peters stopped 26 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes cruised past the Washington Capitals 4-1 Tuesday night.
Andrej Sekera and Jiri Tlusty also scored for the Hurricanes, who had lost two straight and six of eight before bouncing back to equal their most lopsided victory of the season.
Skinner's two goals and three points both tied career highs. Now in his fourth NHL season, the 21-year-old Toronto native last scored two goals in a game in January 2013, against Buffalo.
Skinner got the only goal of the first period before igniting a three-goal second period with a wrist shot from the left circle. Sekera followed with a power-play goal at 14:09 on a blast from just inside the blue line, interrupting a 3-for-42 stretch by Carolina with the extra man.
Tlusty added a backhander less than a minute later for a 4-0 lead.
A power-play goal by Mike Green at 6:39 of the third period ruined Peters' bid for his fourth career shutout. Two of the goaltender's three NHL shutouts are against the Capitals.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby was 4-2 with a 1.84 goals-against average in six career games against Carolina, but in this one he was pulled before the third period after yielding four goals on 23 shots.
The loss ended the Capitals' two-game winning streak. Two of Washington's seven defeats at home this season have come against the Hurricanes.
Skinner's first goal came at 10:21 of the first period on a shot from the right of the net that struck Holtby's bent left leg and bounced into the net. The Hurricanes pulled away in the decisive second period and coasted to the finish.
Since the start of the 2005-06 season, Carolina is 26-2-4 against Washington when scoring at least three goals.
