RALEIGH, N.C. – Dynamic rookie Alexander Ovechkin scored his 47th goal, Matt Pettinger added a short-handed score and the Washington Capitals snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

It was Pettinger’s fifth with his team down a man, tying him for the best in the NHL, as Washington won for the first time since beating Pittsburgh 21/2 weeks ago. Five of the eight losses since were by one goal, with two going to a shootout and another decided in overtime.

Dainius Zubrus scored on the power play midway through the third period to seal it for the Capitals.

They jumped on top early when Ovechkin took a misdirected pass from Brooks Laich, whirled and beat goaltender Martin Gerber less than 2 minutes into the first period. When Pettinger got his during a Carolina power play in the first minute of the second, Washington was in control.

Rod Brind’Amour scored on the power play early in the final period for the Hurricanes, who returned home following a stretch of nine of 10 games on the road. That cut the lead to 2-1, and Brind’Amour appeared to tie it a few minutes later.

But teammate Justin Williams was called for incidental goaltender interference, and referee Shane Heyer wiped away the goal. Zubrus quickly took advantage of the break when Bryan Muir’s shot banged off his skate and into the net past Gerber. It was 3-1 at that point and Carolina couldn’t recover.

Olaf Kolzig stopped 33 shots for the Capitals.

The Hurricanes fell to 27-6-1 at the RBC Center, with the previous two losses to teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The other came Feb. 10 to Pittsburgh, the only team with fewer points than Washington.

Once again, Carolina was without a handful of key players, with center Doug Weight and defensemen Bret Hedican and Niclas Wallin sitting out with lower-body injuries. All are considered day to day and might be back for the remaining three games of the homestand.

The Hurricanes already were without Erik Cole (fractured vertebra), Josef Vasicek (left knee surgery) and Andrew Hutchinson (wrist), leaving them with 218 games lost to injuries. That’s more than all but two of the previous seven full seasons.

At least Vasicek was able to join his teammates for the pregame skate, and he expects to return in the next week or so.

Notes: For depth, Carolina called up RW Keith Aucoin from Lowell of the AHL before the game. … Ovechkin added an assist on the goal by Zubrus and now has 91 points, tied for the 10th-best season by a rookie in NHL history. He has a chance to pass Mike Bossy (53) for the second-most goals by a first-year player; Teemu Selanne had 76 in 1992-93.

AP-ES-03-25-06 2136EST