Carolina earns second Eastern Conference Final appearance in three seasons
© Josh Lavallee / Carolina Hurricanes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Andrei Svechnikov scored with 1:59 remaining to break a 1-1 deadlock and spark the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series. With the win, Carolina eliminates Washington and advances to the Eastern Conference Final.
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The Capitals came out firing with their home crowd behind them, but it was Carolina that grabbed the game’s first goal as Jordan Staal found the top corner on Logan Thompson’s glove side at 9:38. But just over four minutes later, a tough bounce off the end boards sent the puck to Washington’s Anthony Beauvillier in the crease, who tucked it home to level the score.
With the two teams tied after 20, a scoreless second stanza was inches away from featuring a goal for each side. Washington’s Matt Roy actually found twine with a slap shot early in the frame, but the play was ruled offside in the build-up. Then, with just seconds left in the period, Seth Jarvis rang both the crossbar and the post with a single shot from the left circle, coming within inches of giving Carolina a late lead.
Thursday’s contest appeared destined for overtime until Svechnikov’s dagger, which came on a rush chance from an unlikely angle. After Jarvis dished the puck to Svechnikov as he crossed the blue line, the Russian sniper played catch with Scott Walker before ripping a wrister from below the right circle that snuck through Thompson. Just 92 seconds later, Jarvis deposited the puck into an empty Caps net, sealing the game and the series for the Canes.
Frederik Andersen turned away 18 of 19 shots for his seventh win this postseason, continuing his stellar play as the Canes’ starter.
CAR at WSH | Recap
CANES SCORE LATE IN THE THIRD TO ADVANCE TO THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL 🚨 pic.twitter.com/alMvXnJ1ch
Quotes from Rod Brind’Amour and select players will be published here when available…
One-on-one defending Ovi and winning the battle.
That's probably a moment Alexander Nikishin has dreamt about a time or two.
Now, it's a reality. pic.twitter.com/xXAYX10oam
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