RALEIGH, N. Shelby Miller Jersey .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. Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Spencer Abbott and Trevor Smith scored third-period goals erasing a 2-1 deficit giving Toronto a late 3-2 lead. Brad Boxberger Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. http://www.diamondbacksteamshop.com/Customized/ . Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final.CHICAGO -- Jason Hammel is certain the Cubs are better than their record so far. Hammel pitched seven strong innings, Mike Olt hit a three-run home run and Nate Schierholtz drove in a pair of early runs to lead the Cubs to a 9-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. "With a doubt," he said. "Weve played a lot of close ballgames where we could have come out on the other end. Were a young team and well figure out how to win those ball games pretty soon." Hammel (3-1) allowed just one run and four hits without walking a batter in seven innings to lower his ERA to 2.60. "Very nice job," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "He got some groundball double plays when he needed to. Made some pitches when he needed to. It was pretty efficient." Olt still is hitting below .200 for the season (.195), but has four homers and nine runs batted in despite not playing every day. The Cubs, whove won three of four to improve to 7-12, have won back-to-back games for the first time this season. They last won consecutive games on Sept. 9 and 10 of last season against the Cincinnati Reds. Their last consecutive home wins came on Sept. 4 and 6 against Miami and Milwaukee. Brandon McCarthy (0-4) lowered his ERA from 7.11 to 6.23 because only one of five runs allowed was earned. He yielded seven hits in five innings. Arizona has dropped four straight and has the worst record in the majors at 5-18. "It was a carbon copy of the game (Monday)," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "We made an error there, gave them life and then Brandon got behind in the count 3-1 and Olt hit a ball down over the plate, a pretty big pop into that wind. "We didnt mount any pressure again offensively so I dont know what to tell ya," he said. In the third inning, Luis Valbuena stroked a one-outt double to left-centre field and then scored two batters later on a two-out single by Schierholtz. Alex Avila Jersey. In the fifth, Schierholtz drove in Valbuena again, this time on a sacrifice fly to right field, for a 2-0 lead. Valbuena led off the inning with a single, went to second on a groundout and then reached third as Arizona second baseman Martin Prado dropped Anthony Rizzos grounder for an error. The Cubs took advantage. Given the extra out, Starlin Castro singled to put two runners on and Olt followed with a homer into the right field bleachers for a 5-0 lead. "I think it probably helped me," Olt said of the wind. "I wasnt trying to hit a home run. I was just trying to put the ball in play and hit it hard." Arizona finally got on the board against Hammel in the sixth when Tuffy Gosewisch led off with a homer. The Cubs then broke things open with four runs in the bottom of the eighth, while the Diamondbacks got one back in the ninth. NOTES: Wednesday is the 100th anniversary of the first game at Wrigley Field, which then was known as Weeghman Park, between the Chicago Federals and Kansas City Packers of the Federal League. The Cubs will wear replica Federal uniforms for the game, while Arizona will wear Packers uniforms. . Diamondbacks OF Mark Trumbo didnt start because of soreness in his left foot. The injury occurred late in Mondays game. . Now that RHP Jose Veres no longer is closing games, Renteria will hunt for opportunities to get Veres on the mound so he can work out his problems. "It could be at any moment," Renteria said. "We could be up by 10 (or) down by 10. He needs to pitch. Hes talked about he wants to get back on the mound and throw." . LHP Wade Miley (2-2) is scheduled to face Chicago RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-2) on Wednesday. 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