WASHINGTON — Surviving the initial push of an opponent facing elimination, the Carolina Hurricanes scored first thanks to Jordan Staal. Riding the waves of the pressure the Washington Capitals put on them, they scored late to close out the series.
Andre Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with 1:59 left, and Carolina beat Washington, 3-1, in Game 5 on Thursday night to move on to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years.
“We’ve been in playoffs in those kind of games for quite some time, and the guys trust our game and I think that’s the biggest thing,” said Staal, whose goal was his first of the playoffs. “When you believe in what you’re going to do, that it’s going to work out, it just becomes more calm and more consistent that, eventually, if we continue doing what we’re going, we’re going to win the game and it looks like the guys did that.”
The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential close-out games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind’Amour. They will face either Florida in a rematch of the 2023 East final or Toronto in a reminder of 2002, and the Panthers are up 3-2 with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night.
“We’ve already been in a conference final, and we know what’s going to happen there,” Svechnikov said. “It’s not going to be easy there and we’ll see who we’re going to play against, but this is the time for us to take a relaxed little bit and get ready for the next games.”
They’re able to play more games thanks to Frederik Andersen stopping 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including a few from Alex Ovechkin and a Grade-A scoring chance by Pierre-Luc Dubois early in the third period when the score was tied. Then, after a give-and-go with Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle to put Carolina ahead.
“Terrible goal to give up to end the season. I’ve got to wear that,” Thompson said. “I’m an adult. That’s on me. I can be better.”
Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining.
The Capitals’ season is over despite an unassisted goal by Beauvillier and some important saves from Thompson among his 18, though the two goals he allowed were not pretty.
“Credit to Freddie Andersen: I thought he was the better goalie this series,” Thompson said. “I think I could have been better and made a couple saves in Raleigh and definitely tonight.”
Washington started strong, got a few quality scoring chances but could not get through tight-checking defense to prolong the series.
“It was tight out there,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “Liked a lot of what we did tonight. Just didn’t do enough of it.”
And thus ended the Capitals’ most successful season since they won the Stanley Cup in 2018. They made the playoffs a year ago — barely — and were swept immediately by the New York Rangers. Not much more was expected in 2024-25, but Washington celebrated its 50th anniversary season in style, finishing atop the Eastern Conference standings and helping Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record.
The Capitals dispatched Montreal in five games before facing a Carolina team that pressured them from the start and never allowed Washington to get comfortable.
“It’s tough obviously. We had a special group,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t think we played bad hockey. We had lots of great chances to get the lead. It’s tough.”
Ovechkin scored one goal in the series against Carolina after contributing four in the first round and 44 during the regular season.
“For him to come back this year and play the way that he did, chase down this record, start that he had, breaking his leg, coming back from that, and just continuing to not only do the things he did individually statistically, but lead our team,” Carbery said. “It’s why people are going to look at this team and go, ‘How did this team do so well? How did they win the East?’ He’s a big part of that.”
Ovechkin turns 40 in September. Carbery was asked if he expects his star back next season.
“My understanding is he’s under contract so he’ll be back next year,” Carbery said.
Assuming that’s true, the Capitals will likely be taken more seriously as contenders next season than they were at the beginning of this one.
“This is one of the greatest seasons that I’ve ever been a part of as a coach or a player,” Carbery said. “What we went through as a group this year and what they accomplished and O’s record and everything that went into this season — I will never forget this group. Really, really memorable year.”