Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho celebrates his goal in the second period Monday night against the Washington Capitals in Washington. Alex Brandon/Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Carolina Hurricanes gave the Washington Capitals something to think about if the division rivals meet in the playoffs.

Martin Necas scored twice, Sebastian Aho added his 29th goal and the Hurricanes routed the Capitals 6-1 on Monday night in a potential first-round preview that got heated. Carolina’s first victory in four meetings this season came with a cost after center Jesperi Kotkaniemi was injured on a hit with 1.8 seconds left.

“I don’t know the extent, but it’s not good,” Coach Rod Brind’Amour said during a somber postgame news conference. “He’s injured. I don’t know how bad, but he’s definitely going to be out. The game was over. Let’s just get it over with. Two seconds left. I don’t like it. But nothing you can do about it.”

Before Kotkaniemi limped off from a penalized hit by Lars Eller, the highlight of the night was a heavyweight fight between Brendan Smith and Tom Wilson after tensions simmered for half the game.

Wilson leveled Vincent Trocheck with a shoulder-to-chest hit at center ice in the second period, and he wanted to fight Smith early in the third before officials intervened. Wilson and Smith finally dropped the gloves midway through the third, with each landing multiple punches in a bout that fired up a crowd that had been dormant much of the game.

If the fireworks were a sign of things to come, a Hurricanes-Capitals playoff series would be must-see entertainment. This result moved that one step closer to reality.

Beating Washington allowed Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina to keep pace with Florida atop the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes moved one point ahead of the Panthers in the back-and-forth race for the top seed, which would likely mean a series against the Capitals instead of Boston, Toronto or two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay.

After losing to the Capitals in a shootout at home 10 days ago and less than a month since getting blown out of this building, the Hurricanes made plenty of statements to show they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage if the teams face off in early May.

That began well before puck drop with Coach Rod Brind’Amour starting No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen over backup Antti Raanta despite a visit to the Lightning looming Tuesday in the second half of a back-to-back. Andersen stopped 25 of the 26 shots, with most of the pressure coming in the first half of the second period.

Much of the rest of the game was all Carolina, perhaps a product of the opposite scheduling for Washington: no game until Sunday and the next two days completely off. The Capitals had a burst of energy after the first intermission that culminated in Wilson’s goal and cut their deficit to one, but the quick-strike Hurricanes answered less than two minutes later and left no doubt about the result.

BLUES 4, CANUCKS 1: Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assist, leading St. Louis over visiting Vancouver.

Tarasenko has 23 goals this season, and the three-point game gave him 500 points in his NHL career.

David Perron and Marco Scandella also scored for the Blues, who had lost of 3 of 4. Robert Thomas had two assists. Ville Husso rebounded after allowing five goals Saturday and made 35 saves. He is 8-3-3 in his last 14 starts.

Brad Hunt scored for Vancouver. Former Blues goal Jaroslav Halak had 25 saves.

NOTES

SENATORS: Owner Eugene Melnyk has died from an illness, the team said Monday night. He was 62.

The team announced Melnyk’s death with a statement from his family that mentioned “an illness he faced with determination and courage.” The statement did not explain what the illness was, and a team spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking additional details.

Melnyk had a liver transplant in 2015 after a public campaign for a donor. He had owned the Senators since 2003, when he bought the NHL club for $92 million.

The Toronto native was involved in other businesses around Canada and in 2010 had an estimated net worth of $1.21 billion.

FLYERS: Noah Cates is going from Beijing to Broad Street after the Philadelphia Flyers signed the forward prospect to a two-year entry-level contract.

Cates signed a deal for the rest of this season and 2022-23 and is expected to play in the NHL immediately. His college season ended when Minnesota-Duluth was eliminated from the NCAA tournament Saturday by Denver.

The Flyers drafted Cates in the fifth round in 2017. He has since recorded 99 points in 139 NCAA games and helped Minnesota-Duluth win the national title in 2019.

Cates was one of 15 college players picked to play for the U.S. at the Beijing Olympics, which the NHL skipped. He was named an alternate captain despite being just 23 and put up three points in four games.

PENGUINS: The Pittsburgh Penguins signed college free-agent defenseman Colin Swoyer to a $750,000 contract for next season. The Michigan Tech product will report to the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to play the rest of this season on an amateur tryout agreement.

CAPITALS: The Washington Capitals signed journeyman forward Mike Vecchione to a one-year, two-way contract for next season. It’s worth $750,000 in the NHL.

RANGERS-HURRICANES: The New York Rangers acquired forward Maxim Letunov from the Carolina Hurricanes for defenseman Tarmo Reunanen.

BRUINS: The Boston Bruins traded defenseman Brady Lyle to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations.