The Washington Capitals remember what it was like trying to catch the Carolina Hurricanes last season.
If the Capitals keep playing the way they are, everyone in the Southeast Division will end up chasing them this time around.
``Our team is playing well right now and they don't need a lot of motivation or stepping on the gas,'' coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Mike Grier and Kip Miller scored in the opening 9:31 as the Capitals gained at least a point in their 11th straight game with a 4-1 road victory over the slumping Hurricanes on Friday night.
Jeff Halpern and Andreas Salomonsson had two assists each for Washington, 6-0-3-2 during the points streak. Five weeks ago, the Capitals 12th in the Eastern Conference. Now, they're tied with Tampa Bay for sixth in the conference and first in the division.
``The main thought for everyone in the room was that we needed to start developing a killer instinct and put teams away,'' Grier said. ``We came out from the start of the third and put pressure on them and kept an aggressive frame of mind.''
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have lost 11 of 17. The Stanley Cup runner-up fell two games under .500 for the first time since Oct. 17 -- a 2-1 home loss to Washington.
``You can say we got outworked, but they had better jump from start to finish and we didn't deserve to win that game,'' Carolina coach Paul Maurice said.
The Hurricanes fell behind 2-0 halfway through the first on the goals by Grier and Miller.
Ron Francis' 15th goal early in the second pulled Carolina to 2-1, but Steve Konowalchuk gave Washington another two-goal lead seconds after getting out of the penalty box.
Peter Bondra scored through a maze of Carolina players 1:55 into the third to make it 4-1.
* The Hurricanes have lost 11 of 17. The Stanley Cup runner-up fell two games under .500 for the first time since Oct. 17 -- a 2-1 home loss to Washington.
* Five weeks ago, the Capitals were 12th in the Eastern Conference. Now, they're tied with Tampa Bay for sixth in the conference and first in the division.
The Capitals fought through various off-ice problems last season and finished second to the Hurricanes in the division, despite having one more victory.
``They are going through what we did, with the talk of trades, of shaking up the team through a tough stretch,'' Cassidy said. ``You know, you kind of feel sorry for them.''
Carolina fell to 2-6-2-1 against Southeast Division opponents after going 11-3-5-1 last season.
``I don't know if we're thinking too much out there and not reacting, or what?'' Carolina's Sami Kapanen said. ``We're kind of slowing down and that's not the style of game we need to play.''
Blue Jackets 3, Canucks 2
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Geoff Sanderson scored and assisted on Tyler Wright's go-ahead goal as Columbus beat Vancouver for the first time.
Rookie Rick Nash also scored for the Blue Jackets, who came in 0-7-1 against the Canucks. The Blue Jackets have won two straight after general manager Doug MacLean fired Dave King on Tuesday and took over as interim coach.
Marc Denis, starting for the 41st time in 42 games for Columbus, made 14 of his 27 saves in the final 20 minutes.
The Blue Jackets lost defenseman Rostislav Klesla with a separated left shoulder in the second period. His status wasn't immediately known.
Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist, and Markus Naslund scored his league-leading 31st goal for the Canucks.
Sabres 4, Bruins 2
At Buffalo, New York, Rookie Ales Kotalik had two goals for the third straight game as the Sabres scored four times in the third period.
Tim Connolly and Miroslav Satan also scored for Buffalo, and rookie Ryan Miller, making his fifth straight start, stopped 21 shots. Brian Rolston and Jozef Stumpel scored for Boston, which has lost five straight.
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