Capitals 3, Hurricanes 1: Troy Brouwer scored twice and defenseman Mike Green provided the go-ahead tally as host Washington picked up its sixth straight victory.

Braden Holtby turned aside a career-high 43 shots and Nicklas Backstrom added an assist to run his point streak to eight games for the Capitals, who remained two points ahead of Winnipeg for first place in the Southeast Division.

Jeff Skinner scored and Justin Peters made 28 saves as the Hurricanes lost their seventh straight and fell to 1-13-1 in the last 15 games. Carolina is 10 points behind the eighth-place New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining.

Carolina struck first on a 4-on-3 power play in the first period. Captain Eric Staal blasted a one-timer from the right faceoff circle that Holtby stopped, but Skinner was right there to pick up the rebound and stuff it in.

Mike Ribeiro found Brouwer a one-timer from the right circle that tied the game at 8:08 of the second period. Washington took the lead just 2:38 later as Green skated past Skinner and sent a wrist shot high over Peters’ right shoulder.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington RW Joel Ward (knee), LW Martin Erat (leg) and C Brooks Laich (groin) all missed the game. … Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin had his five-game goal-scoring streak come to an end. The captain put six shots on goal. … Staal (nine) and former Washington LW Alexander Semin (eight) combined for 17 shots to lead the Hurricanes.