Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2: Nathan Gerbe scored the tiebreaking goal near the seven-minute mark of the third period as visiting Carolina snapped a three-game losing streak at the hands of Washington.

Alexander Semin scored his first goal of the season and Elias Lindholm added his first career tally to back a 30-save effort from Anton Khudobin as the Hurricanes celebrated their 1,200th game since relocating from Hartford in 1997.

Reigning Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin and Jason Chimera scored for the Capitals, who failed to protect a pair of one-goal leads in the opener of a five-game homestand. Braden Holtby made 33 saves in falling to 0-3-0.

Washington notched the only goal of the opening period when Chimera's weak turnaround shot from the left circle slid between the pads of Khudobin. Lindholm tied it at the 12:58 mark of the middle period, getting a fortunate deflection off the skate of Capitals defenseman John Carlson.

Ovechkin reclaimed the lead 54 seconds later when he deflected a shot from the point by defenseman Steve Oleksy that bounced past Khudobin for his fifth goal. Semin notched his first when he blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle past Holtby to tie it at the 16:14 mark.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ovechkin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games and pushed his point total to seven. ... Gerbe's third goal put him two shy of his entire total from the 2012-13 season with Buffalo. ... Washington came in leading the league with a 50 percent success rate (6-of-12) on the power play, but it came up empty on all five chances with the man advantage.