Reflecting on some of the successes on the way to ousting the top team from the Eastern Conference
RALEIGH, N.C. – For the second time in three years, the Carolina Hurricanes are destined for the Eastern Conference Final, having knocked off the Washington Capitals in the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Carolina earned a road split against the Metropolitan Division champs to start the series, then held serve at home to take a 3-1 series lead. Putting the nail through the coffin in their return trip to the nation’s capital, they impressed mightily en route to earning their spot among the NHL’s final four teams standing.
Coupled with a five-game series win over New Jersey in Round 1, the Canes are now 8-2 in postseason play, including a 5-0 record at home. Let’s see how they got here…
The Hurricanes dominated zone time and shot attempts. Freddy Andersen was terrific in goal. The Canes are off to the Eastern Conference Final. pic.twitter.com/kNzzl1vw6m
During the regular season, the Washington Capitals scored 286 goals. Only the Tampa Bay Lightning (292) had more.
Yet in five games against Carolina, the Caps were held to just seven.
Including holding the greatest goal-scorer the game’s ever seen to just one (a power-play marker, no less), the Canes put on a defensive masterclass. Call it boring, call it tough to watch, call it whatever you want. They’ll call it a winning formula for winning.
“It’s just kind of the buy-in, top-down. All four lines, the three D-pairs, we’re all playing the same system and that’s a really suffocating game,” Sean Walker said amid a celebratory locker room on Thursday. “We want to play in the O-zone as much as we can, and when you’re doing that, you’re going to limit the amount of shots they have. I think we did that really well all series, and that’s something that’s going to be really important going forward.”
Not a single Washington skater had multiple points at five-on-five, and the trio of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Tom Wilson were all left walking away with zero. It was a stellar showing of both commitment and experience.
“They are just relentless with their pressure and their ability to break plays up with their sticks… there’s no team in the league like it,” Washington’s Spencer Carbery said following Game 5. “They don’t get rattled. The game stays tight and it could go either way, but you can just tell the experience and the calmness of their group, through various points in that series [paid dividends].”
Keeping the Capitals to eight shots or fewer in 11 of the 15 regulation periods in the series, it was exactly what Brind’Amour and crew wanted.
“We do have guys that have been through this for many years, and together. That’s important,” Rod Brind’Amour reflected. “But we did add a bunch of new guys too, and they all came in and really just bought into what we’re trying to do as a group. I think you see it by the results.”
ECF berths are so boring! pic.twitter.com/6HNgWmjmY0
When the puck did reach Frederik Andersen, it didn’t have much of a chance of going in. Allowing just two goals or fewer in all five outings, “Zilla” finished the series with a .937 save percentage, continuing to pace all NHL netminders this postseason.
“When Freddie’s in, he’s a stud. He’s been a stud his whole career. You guys always talk about his calmness. He’s a rock that makes things look easy,” Jordan Staal raved. “He was able to give us a chance, and that’s all you ask for. He was great all series long, just steady. He’s obviously a huge part of that series win.”
Bouncing back admirably after being knocked out of the first round with an injury, Andersen’s play instilled confidence in a group that was able to counter with 15 goals in five games.
“It doesn’t get understated because we always talk about goaltending, it’s just so important. I think this is the best he’s played since he’s been here,” Brind’Amour praised after Game 5. “All of a sudden, we have that breakdown and there’s a save. He bails us out. That’s what great goaltending does for a team, and obviously, we hope that continues.”
Just how good has Andersen been? His 1.36 goals against average is almost an entire goal better than the next closest netminder in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Anthony Stolarz – 2.19) and his .937 save percentage is .20 better than second place, more than the same gap that there is separating second and 10th.
Freddie Andersen's 1.36 G.AA is the lowest recorded G.AA through a player's first 9 starts in a postseason since Ilya Bryzgalov recorded a 1.00 in 2006 for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. pic.twitter.com/Dzyvqvpwvx
Speaking of those 15 goals, Andrei Svechnikov (3) drove the boat for a second consecutive round, but equally as big of a story was the fact that the Canes had 11 different players account for the 15.
Svechnikov, Shayne Gostisbehere (2), and Seth Jarvis (2) were the only skaters with multiple tallies, resulting in another showcase that the unit has different individuals stepping up to the plate on a nightly basis.
“I don’t know if this team gets maligned because we don’t have an Ovechkin, we don’t have the greatest goal scorer of all time, or we don’t have a MacKinnon or all these superstar kind of players, but we have a little different mix. We think we do have those kinds of players, they just do it a little differently,” Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, every team counts on all of their players, but we definitely need everyone to contribute, and that’s what you’re getting right now.”
Looking back on the series, the goals came in a variety of ways, too. Jaccob Slavin’s Game 1 overtime winner was a floater from the point. Jack Roslovic had a power-play dart after re-entering the lineup. Taylor Hall displayed his finishing ability on a breakaway for the Game 4 game-winning goal.
This team says they need everyone, and they mean it.
“We’ve loved the way this team’s kind of come together and everyone’s little roles,” Staal echoed. “Scoring is big in playoffs, especially the way we play, with a lot of tight games. Every goal is huge. Everyone’s chipping in with that, and it takes pressure off of guys like Svech, and it’s important to kind of keep doing that.”
Jack Roslovic with the feed, Taylor Hall with the finish! ✅ #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/0XDDvKSOFV
Andrei Svechnikov talked the talk in Round 1, saying that he feels that the playoffs are “his time.” Big words from a young man whom the team needs to be a star, he walked the walk again in Round 2, now ranking second among all NHL skaters in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with his eight goals.
He’s been a monster and is rising to the occasion for his group.
“He’s just been great. There’s no question about it,” Staal supported. “He’s been on it every night, shooting the puck, being physical, just being hard to play against, and just being a playoff player that we know he is. It’s great to see the puck go in for him and he’s going to continue to lead our group.”
After an up-and-down regular season, Brind’Amour said all year long that if the Canes “want to get to where they want,” they’d need #37 to help drag them there. At the midway point of the postseason, he’s done his part.
“All year, we’ve been kind of waiting for that Andrei,” the head coach said. “(His Game 5 winner), that goal was not even a ‘great’ goal, he had a lot of other ones off the bars and posts, so I think that one, he deserved it just from his play all series. Any team that’s playing now, you’ve got to have your top guys going or you’re not still here.”
WSH@CAR: Svechnikov scores goal against Logan Thompson
