The Carolina Hurricanes have advanced to the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2023. The team will play the winner of the Toronto/Florida series. If the Florida Panthers advance, the ECF will be a 2023 rematch.
The Hurricanes have been to the Eastern Conference Finals three times under Rod Brind’Amour as a head coach: 2019, 2023, and 2025. Under Brind’Amour as a player, the Hurricanes also made the ECF three times in 2002, 2006, and 2009. (Brind’Amour played in all three of these series.) The team’s all-time record in the ECF is 8-17-0.
GAME 1
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
Final Score: 2-1, Carolina (OT)
Carolina’s lines appeared as following:
Svechnikov – Aho – Blake
Hall – Kotkaniemi – Stankoven
Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
Carrier – Jankowski – Robinson
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Andersen
The game began with a Sebastian Aho high-sticking penalty that was killed off by Carolina. Throughout the first ten minutes, Washington had one shot attempt in five-on-five play, with Carolina having sixteen shot attempts. Washington blocked fourteen of those.
Washington opened scoring in the second period, with Aliaksei Protas scoring at 03:53 for his first postseason goal. Protas was able to get past Frederik Andersen’s far side to score. Brandon Duhaime and John Carlson were credited with assists on the goal. Shot attempts by the end of the second period were twenty-two for the Capitals and fifty-one for the Hurricanes.
Mark Jankowski went to the room with an undisclosed injury during the second period. He did not return for the remainder of Game 1 and did not play again in this series.
Carolina continued their perfect penalty kill from Round 1 against New Jersey, killing off penalties against Aho and Jackson Blake for tripping.
During the third period, Carolina’s deadline acquisition from the Dallas Stars (a major role in the Mikko Rantanen trade), Logan Stankoven buried the puck past Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson to tie the game at 1-1. Jakob Chychrun took a penalty for high-sticking Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov. Despite the penalty, Carolina was unable to capitalize on the power play, and the game went into overtime.
At 03:06 into overtime, Jaccob Slavin ended the game. Slavin described the moment as, “The puck came up to me at the point there, and I was trying to get it to the net… I didn’t know it went in until I saw Jordan [Staal] come up to me with his arms up.”
GAME 2
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
Final Score: 3-1, Washington
Carolina’s lines appeared as follows:
Svechnikov – Aho – Blake
Hall – Kotkaniemi – Stankoven
Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
Carrier – Roslovic – Robinson
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Andersen
The first period was scoreless, with early puck management and physicality from Carolina. Staal described the first period as “good… the second was no good.” Roslovic, filling in for Jankowski, took his usual spot on Carolina’s second power play during the first period.
The first period ended on Washington’s power play time, after Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield went to the box on a hooking call. Carolina’s perfect penalty kill ended after an attempted dump-in hit Shayne Gostisbehere in the neck, resulting in a Connor McMichael breakaway. McMichael successfully scored on the breakaway, making the game 1-0, Washington. Carolina also struggled on their own power play throughout the second period.
At 01:54 in the third period, Carlson increased Washington’s lead to two on a power play goal. Eight minutes later, Gostisbehere put Carolina on the board on a power play goal.
With a minute left in the game, Andersen was pulled for Carolina, and Tom Wilson scored on an empty-net goal, making the evening’s final score 3-1, Washington.
Brind’Amour stated postgame, “Washington played a much better game… We have to be better, that’s for sure. We knew it was going to be hard, and having said that, we were still in the game.”
GAME 3
Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
Final Score: 4-0, Carolina
Carolina’s lines appeared as follows:
Svechnikov – Aho – Blake
Hall – Roslovic – Stankoven
Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
Carrier – Kotkaniemi – Robinson
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Andersen
This game marked Dmitry Orlov’s one-hundredth career NHL playoff game, joining Staal and Brent Burns as the only players on Carolina’s roster to do so. It also marked the near-twentieth anniversary of Alexander Ovechkin’s draft day at the then-RBC Center in Raleigh. Returning to the building twenty years onward, Ovechkin had accomplished everything expected of him and more, including becoming the all-time NHL goal scorer and a Stanley Cup champion.
Before Game 3, Capitals coach Spencer Carberry told media, “The experience of playing in Montreal (Washington’s Round 1 opponent), the noise, everything that goes with playing in a hostile environment, I think we can lean on those experiences…You can argue those are the two most difficult buildings—Montreal and Carolina—to play in in the league.”
Similarly to Game 2, the first period was scoreless, and largely a game of goaltending; with both Andersen and Thompson making major stops early on. The second period began with a scrum, sending both Jackson Blake and Pierre-Luc Dubois to the box and the game to several minutes of four-on-four play. At 12:34 in the second, Svechnikov scored directly off a Carolina offensive zone faceoff originally won by Carlson, putting the Hurricanes up 1-0. Svechnikov’s goal tied Eric Staal at forty-three for the second-most in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history. Only teammate Sebastian Aho, at seventy-nine, has more postseason goals.
Alexander Alexeyev was sent to the box for hooking about six minutes after Svechnikov’s goal, sending Carolina to their first power play. Jack Roslovic capitalized and sent the Canes up 2-0. It was his first power play goal in fifty-three games.
The second period also marked one of the most controversial calls of the series. Within the final minutes of the period, Staal took a penalty for high-sticking Trevor van Riemsdyk, when a replay showed that the incident was friendly fire from teammate Luc-Dubois. 1:15 of Washington power play time transferred into the third period, which was killed off by Carolina.
National viewers began to understand why Jordan Martinook is referred to as “the heart and soul of the [Carolina] room” after blocking a shot towards the start of the third period. At 03:14 in the third, Eric Robinson scored his first goal of the postseason – and his first playoff goal since August 15, 2020.
Near the end of the game, a scrum with penalties broke out. Svechnikov took two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Nic Dowd took two minutes for roughing. Washington was already on the kill, so Carolina had the man-advantage. Jackson Blake ended up scoring on the power play at 16:44 in the game, placing Carolina up 4-0 to end the game.
“Freddie” chants broke out for the last minute of the game, and Andersen was given a loud ovation from the Canes faithful. It marked Andersen’s fourth career playoff shutout, his first since 2020, and his first as a Hurricane. Andersen had twenty-one saves on the evening.
GAME 4
Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
Final Score: 5-2, Carolina
Carolina’s lines appeared as following:
Svechnikov – Aho – Jarvis
Hall – Roslovic – Stankoven
Martinook – Staal – Carrier
Robinson – Kotkaniemi – Blake
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Andersen
The first period continued the streak of the game being one of goaltending. Frederik Andersen made several stops on Washington to keep the game scoreless. At 10:24 in the first, Gostisbehere put Carolina on the board through a flying shot through traffic near Thompson’s net. Martinook ended the period with a four-minute double-minor for high-sticking Chycrun, with twenty-four seconds of that time translating to the start of the second period.
At 01:05 in the second period, Seth Jarvis found an Aho rebound and scored, making the score 2-0.
Andersen served yet again as a critical part of Carolina’s game strategy, making multiple game-changing saves throughout the second period against a desperate, scrappy, and hungry Washington team.
At 05:18 in the third period, Washington got on the board from a Chychrun goal, assisted by Matt Roy and Luc-Dubois. Three minutes later, at 08:24, Taylor Hall scored his second of the postseason to place Carolina up 3-1. Sean Walker’s secondary assist gave the defenseman his first of the postseason. Shortly after Chycrun’s goal, the Carolina defensive pairs were adjusted as follows:
Slavin – Walker
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere –Burns
At 11:14 in the third period, Hall took a penalty for tripping. At 11:57, Orlov took a penalty for interference, placing Washington on the two-man advantage. Postgame, Orlov told reporters that his first thoughts after taking the penalty were, “I almost s—t myself.” Quieting critics of his invisibility this postseason, Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals.
In a reverse of the Hall goal, Walker scored off a Hall pass, placing Carolina up 4-2.
At 17:39 in the third, Svechnikov scored on an empty-net goal, placing the Canes up 5-2, fully closing the door on Washington’s chances to take an away game. In this postseason, the Hurricanes have been perfect at home.
GAME 5
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
Final Score: 3-1, Carolina
Before the game, Brind’Amour told reporters that Chatfield was a “game-time decision.” Chatfield did not take warmups, and in his slot, over a thousand days after his 2020 draft, Alexander Nikishin took his rookie lap.
Nikishin signed his ELC with the Hurricanes on April 11, and since then, fans have eagerly awaited his debut.
Carolina’s lines appeared as following:
Svechnikov — Aho — Jarvis
Hall — Roslovic — Stankoven
Martinook — Staal — Carrier
Robinson — Kotkaniemi — Blake
Slavin — Burns
Nikishin — Orlov *
Gostisbehere — Walker
Andersen
* Nikishin was moved to Gostisbehere’s defensive pairing halfway through the first period, where he remained for the remainder of the game. *
Carolina got on the board first, with captain Jordan Staal scoring at 09:38 in the first period. Staal’s shot bounced into Thompson’s net off the post. Jordan Martinook was credited with the assist.
Four minutes later, the Capitals tied the game at 1-1. Jaccob Slavin attempted a defensive-to-defensive pass near Andersen, with the puck hitting the side of the net. Washington’s Anthony Beauviller took advantage of the pass, and got the puck past Andersen. The period ended with both Washington and Carolina taking desperate shots on goal, with a Chycrun shot hitting the post, and shots from Jarvis and Stankoven saved by Thompson. Despite the score, Carolina was the more dominant team during the first period, winning eighty-three percent of draws, and eight shots on goal to Washington’s four.
The second period nearly began with a Washington goal – Matt Roy fired a slapshot into Andersen’s net. Carolina utilized their coaches’ challenge, after video review demonstrated that Connor McMichael, who would’ve had a primary assist on the goal, was offside at the Carolina blue line. The officiating staff of Gord Dwyer and Francis Charron agreed with the challenge, and the goal was taken down due to McMichael being offside.
A visual demonstration of why the Roy goal was called offside. Image Credit: TNT, May 15, 2025.
Despite a tripping penalty on Nikishin, Washington was unable to get a power play goal, despite attempts from Chycrun and Ovechkin, and minutes later, Beauviller took an interference penalty that Carolina was unable to capitalize on. Nikishin won his first puck battle against Ovechkin. The period ended with another Jarvis shot, this time hitting the crossbar.
The third period began with a flurry of activity, with Washington heading to the power play for Martinook for charging Wilson. By the time Carolina had killed the penalty, Andersen had stopped sixteen out of eighteen Washington shots. In five games, Andersen allowed six total goals and maintained a .937 save percentage.
At 18:01 in the third period, on a defensive-turned-offensive play, Sean Walker passed the puck to Andrei Svechnikov, who scored on his eighth goal of the postseason. Svechnikov described his strategy postgame as “enjoying every game, having fun, and helping [my] team win games… [I’m] excited to go into the next round, but it’s not going to be easy.” Only former Hurricane Mikko Rantanen has scored more goals this postseason than Svechnikov.
With 1:37 left to go, Thompson was pulled. To give the Hurricanes some extra insurance on their lead, Jarvis scored an empty-net goal with twenty-six seconds left in the game, officially punching the team’s ticket to the Eastern Conference Final.
Staal referred to both the game and Carolina’s play throughout the series as “consistent.” Carolina’s consistency has been one of the things noted about the team throughout the Brind’Amour era, and it has paid off yet again.
ITR 38: Quenneville is a Duck – Inside The Rink
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