RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Washington Capitals arent used to late-season games like this where the only thing at stake is pride. While they hate being in this position, at least theyre making the best of it. Troy Brouwer scored two goals in the Capitals 5-2 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. All three members of Washingtons third line -- Joel Ward, Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr -- each had a goal and two assists. They helped the Capitals claim an easy win in this Metropolitan Division matchup of teams knocked out of the playoff race. "We went out there and we want to finish the season off right so that we can have some good games," Brouwer said. "Maybe a little consolation smile on your face when you go into the summertime, I guess." Braden Holtby stopped 36 shots for Washington, which won its third straight after losing five in a row. This one came one night after the Capitals learned they would miss the post-season for the first time in seven years. "Thats all we can do right now, is just go out and try to play the system correctly, and try to get good results from it," Fehr said. Jiri Tlusty scored a short-handed goal, Radek Dvorak added a late goal and Anton Khudobin finished with 16 saves for the Hurricanes. Playing their home finale, they lost their third straight -- their seventh losing streak of at least three games this season. "It wasnt good enough. Clearly," Carolina captain Eric Staal said. "We had breakdowns, and they ended up in our net. It just wasnt good enough, and theres not much else to say. We needed to be better than we were tonight. I feel bad for the fans who were here watching and came out to support us." Tlusty briefly made things interesting when he pulled the Hurricanes within a goal at 2-1 by finishing on a short-handed 2-on-1 rush at 17:16 of the second period. It was all Capitals after that. Brouwer restored Washingtons two-goal lead with 35.1 seconds left in the second when he one-timed a cross-ice feed from Marcus Johansson past Khudobin. Fehr made it a three-goal game 2:25 into the third and Brouwer stretched it to 5-1 62 seconds later by slipping the puck between Khudobins legs for his 25th goal of the season. "It was a team that was having fun tonight playing hockey," Brouwer said, "but unfortunately, its not for a whole lot." Both teams were playing their first game since being eliminated from the playoff chase. These meaningless late-season games are new to the Capitals, who until now had made the post-season every year since 2007. The Hurricanes are certainly used to this. Theyre out of the playoffs for the fifth straight year -- the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference -- and the seventh time in eight years since they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. "It hasnt been easy" for the fans, Staal said, "and it hasnt been easy for me the past five years." And with nothing on the line for either team except pride -- and in an arena almost completely devoid of energy -- this game quickly took on a rather loose feel. "It wasnt a good game overall," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "To me, it looked like two teams that just pretty much in the last couple days were mathematically out of the playoffs and it just looked like a sloppy game. I dont think it was really a good hockey game by either team. But for our last game at home, we were looking for more." Ward started the scoring with an easy goal 62 seconds in when he sent the puck into an open net. Chimera made it 2-0 at 10:58 of the second when he skated along the end line and slipped the puck under Khudobins right leg. "It was one of those nights where things were going well for us," Fehr said. "We could tell that the guys were feeling good." NOTES: Capitals C Marcus Johansson assisted on both of Brouwers goals. ... Washington has won four straight at PNC Arena and improved to 14-5-3 in the series since 2010-11. ... The Hurricanes season award winners were announced before the game, with the players voting C Manny Malhotra the Steve Chiasson Award winner for determination and dedication, and local writers selecting D Andrej Sekera as the team MVP. Marcus Allen Raiders Jersey . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012. George Blanda Jersey . -- A deflected pass that landed in DeSean Jacksons hands. https://www.raiderssportsgoods.com/Womens-Josh-Jacobs-Inverted-Jersey/ . While the pair of Spain internationals return, midfielder Xavi Hernandez will not be included in the squad after failing to recover from a muscle strain to his left leg. Howie Long Raiders Jersey . -- EJ Manuel followed the worst game of his career with the best. Hunter Renfrow Womens Jersey . Price was hurt at the start of Wednesdays practice after facing just one shot as the team worked on their power play. He left the ice in discomfort and appeared to be favouring his leg. A Habs source told TSNs John Lu that Price suffered the injury in Sochi and not before the Olympics.By now it is a stat everyone knows. Jose Mourinho wins the league in his second season at a club. He did it at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. When his team led Man City by eight points after 11 matches, following the second weekend in November, many were willing to hand him the championship again. Two months on and the momentum has shifted. Chelsea outsprinted Man City by eight points through the first 11 games but have handed them all back to their title rivals through the last nine matches. They are now at a deadlock just past the halfway mark of the marathon. Chelsea remain favourites but not as many people are willing to hand Joses Chelsea the title. Fewer still are questioning him despite his side giving up a sizeable lead to a team who had David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero all out injured for the bulk of the time they spent catching up. A look at the opponents during that run shows a slight edge for City but not a monumental one. Manuel Pellegrinis men played just two of the top ten sides, Swansea and Southampton, while Chelsea also played Southampton as well as Tottenham twice and Newcastle. The most notable thing to take away from the eight-game stretch was squad versatility. Mourinho said he would sleep fine after the loss to Newcastle because he felt his team played at a high standard. He couldnt say the same after their second loss, a 5-3 hammering at Tottenham on New Years Day where they looked tired and a long way from the level they had been at for most of the season. During the busiest time in the Premier League season, where Chelsea played four games in eleven days, Mourinho started eight players in all four of those games. Only Man Utd (9) and Burnley (11) started more players during the four-game stretch. Man City started just five in all four of their games. Mourinho clearly knows his best XI. Thibaut Courtois is the leagues best goalkeeper and picks himself, his back four have started 16 of the 20 league games together so far, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic, playing as a formidable pair in central midfield, have started 18 of the 20 together games this season and in front of them is the tried and tested trio of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian. Striker Diego Costa has started a remarkable 17 games of 20 despite regularly, early this season, being linked with injuries. It is not unusual to see a goalkeeper like Courtois start as often he does but it is in front of him that Mourinho has some bigger decisions to make during the second half of the season. Through 20 games there have been 200 outfield spots available on Chelseas starting XI in league matches. The aforementioned 10 players have filled 181 of them – over 90 per cent. This is a number we hardly ever see anymore and shows, up to now, that Chelsea have been lucky with injuries but also, again, that their manager relies heavily on 10 outfield players. Those ten are on pace to fill 344 starting slots of the 380 available throughout a season, an incredible number. Past Champions To show how high this amount is I ran the numbers of the last 10 Premier League winners. The following is the amount of starts the most used 10 players combined for during the season: Man City 13/14 – 273 Man Utd 12/13 - 259 Man City 11/12 – 283 Man Utd 10/11 – 252 Chelsea 09/10 – 280 Man Utd 08/09 – 260 Man Utd 07/08 – 293 Man Utd 06/07 – 269 Chelsea 05/06 – 274 Chelsea 04/05 – 287 No team is close to 344. For such a large sample size the numbers are quite similar. Four of the champions are within ten combined starts and each of the last six winners have fallen between 252 and 283.dddddddddddd. Manchester United of 2007/08 is the leader of the pack and had six starters all pass the 30-start threshold. This seasons Chelsea have nine of their outfield players all on pace to eclipse this and the only one who is missing is Willian who has started 13 of the last 16 after Andre Schurrle was preferred in three of the first four games. The numbers show their current rate is unsustainable and it is not even close. Squad Depth As well as the Premier League, Chelsea are also still in contention for the Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup. During the festive period, Mourinho elected against squad rotation but he will be forced to rely on it in February and March. That will reduce the projected number of 344 but by how much? Mourinho has been praised for keeping his squad happy during a period when they havent been playing but will the players be good enough for his standard when required? Its not difficult for me to leave players out. Everybody has to be ready to sacrifice for the team, to give everything for the team, not to be selfish, Mourinho said recently. This will be put to the test sooner rather than later. Chelseas favoured 10 are all close to the pace of 30+ starts because no other player is on pace to start double-digit league games this season. Schurrle has started five of 20, John Obi Mikel and Felipe Luis four and Ramires just three. Here is a look at how many outfield players started 10 league games or more for the champions in the last 10 years: Man City 13/14 – 16 Man Utd 12/13 - 16 Man City 11/12 – 15 Man Utd 10/11 – 17 Chelsea 09/10 – 16 Man Utd 08/09 – 17 Man Utd 07/08 – 14 Man Utd 06/07 – 14 Chelsea 05/06 – 15 Chelsea 04/05 – 15 No team even close to 10 and no one with less than 14. Chelsea currently has only 10 outfield players who have started more than five games and we are past the halfway stage. Admittedly, it wont take a lot of changes to get the likes of Schurrle, Mikel, Felipe Luis and Ramires to double-digits but how much does Mourinho want to rely on them? He has lost patience with Schurrle, removing him at half-time recently at Southampton, which was his only start in the past three months. Mikel and Ramires give him different options when he wants to be more defensive in midfield and he usually removes Oscar for one of them. After his performance at Spurs the Brazilian number ten may be on the bench more in the second half. Another Brazilian, Felipe Luis, cost 16 million pounds but the back four have been magnificent in most games this season and have been very difficult to dislodge as bright young star Kurt Zouma (zero starts) knows only too well. Mohamed Saleh and Loic Remy have also struggled to get starts and have just one between them so far. These are barriers Mourinho must find a way past in the second half to reduce the 344 number and increase the double digit starters past 10. Locked in a fierce battle with Man City, Chelsea still have the advantage in terms of fixtures remaining but it is this advantage that Mourinho must use wisely with his squad. History shows us how often he wins in year number two but it also shows us how much he needs to start relying on his squad if he wants to lift the trophy in May. Join us on Saturday from 7:30am et/4:30am pt for a full day of Premier League action including Chelsea vs Newcastle on TSN4 at 10am et/7am pt. ' ' '