Carolina Hurricanes Advance to Eastern Conference Final with 3-1 Win Over Capitals
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night to advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three years.
Jordan Staal opened the scoring for Carolina, netting his first goal of the playoffs.
“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,” Staal said. “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.”
Andre Svechnikov scored the game-winner with 1:59 remaining in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie when his shot from a bad angle beat Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson.
ANDREI SVECHNIKOV GIVES CAROLINA THE LEAD LATE #StanleyCup
: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/PJnmIFlnrV— NHL (@NHL) May 16, 2025
Seth Jarvis sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds left.
The Hurricanes weathered an early push from the elimination-facing Capitals, who came out strong but couldn’t break through Carolina’s tight-checking defense.
“It was tight out there,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Liked a lot of what we did tonight. Just didn’t do enough of it.”
Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of 19 shots for Carolina, including key saves on Alex Ovechkin and a prime scoring chance from Pierre-Luc Dubois early in the third period.
Anthony Beauvillier scored the lone goal for Washington.
“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.”
The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential close-out games under coach Rod Brind’Amour.
“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.”
Carolina will face either the Florida Panthers or Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference Final. Florida currently leads that series 3-2 with a chance to eliminate Toronto on Friday night.
The Hurricanes would have home-ice advantage against Florida and would open on the road if they face Toronto.
