The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals in five games to advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2023.

Despite the tightness of a good few of the games, it was clear how much better a team the Hurricanes were and they dominated the series for a lot of it.

Here are 10 observations from the second-round series:

1. Total Team Defensive Effort

The Hurricanes stifled the Capitals utterly and completely in that series and in nearly every single game of it too. 

Across five games, Washington only managed to score seven goals and held the lead just twice.

The Capitals never had more than 21 shots on goal in a game and were held below 20 twice.

Let's look at some more of the Capitals offensive numbers:

• 5v5 goals - Four (No skater had more than one 5v5 point and Alex • Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome combined for zero)
• 5v4 PPG - One
• 5v3 PPG - One
• Skaters with multiple points - Five (No skater had more than two points)

Washington was also outscored 15-7 and outchanced 319-197 across the five-game series.

And as a reminder, the Capitals were the second highest scoring team in the regular season who had three 30+ goal scorers and seven 50+ point players.

2. Special Shoutouts: Brent Burns, Sean Walker

As my colleague Cory Lavalette pointed out, Brent Burns was on the ice for just a single goal against (an empty-netter in Game 2) across the entire series.

The 40-year-old blueliner was absolutely tremendous against the Capitals top-six, averaging 20:55 TOI per game.

He was just a complete force and he's been good all postseason. A great resurgence for him.

And then there's Sean Walker, who led the Canes in ice time in two separate games in this series (Game 3 and 5).

Walker, who has been underrated all season really, has taken his game to another level these playoffs and that Washington series was such a good showing for him too.

His skating ability is some of the best on the team, and he's able to transition the puck so efficiently because of that.

And while his offensive game was slow to come, he's got three points in his last two games, including assists on both the Game 4 and Game 5 winners.

3. Alexander Nikishin's Debut

The Russian rookie made his long anticipated debut in Game 5, and while he didn't play too much (just 10:33) it was still good to see him finally as a Hurricane.

It was a tough start for Nikishin, who had a few turnovers, one nearly costly (shoutout the coach's challenge) and a penalty, but you could also see he was getting more comfortable as he played.

He had two shots on goal, his first registering at 92mph, and two hits and he made a few nice defensive plays too.

I should also note, his hockey hero was Alexander Ovechkin and he had a shift where he defensively dominated the Russian superstar.

Had to have felt good.

4. Andrei Svechnikov's Legacy Run

The 2025 Playoffs continue to be the Year of Svech.

After leading the team in goals last series (5), he again led the team in goals this series (3), including scoring the series-clinching goal.

Svechnikov currently sits second among all skaters in goals this postseason.

And he could have had a lot more as he had two shots off the crossbar and two off of the post in this series alone.

Even outside of scoring, Svechnikov is driving play and getting physical, leading the team in hits as well.

Oh, and he's only taken a single penalty in the playoffs, which was a matching roughing minor in a scrum he didn't start.

The Russian winger had a really middling regular season, mired by minor injuries and scoring slumps, but he's proving that the playoffs are his time.

5. Steady Freddie

Carolina has really been enjoying having the best goaltending of the postseason.

Heading into this series, Frederik Andersen and Logan Thompson were statistically the number one and two goalies in the playoffs and they proved that number one is indeed better than number two.

Andersen allowed just six goals across five games and pitched a shutout in Game 3.

He leads the league in save percentage (0.937), high-danger save percentage (0.923), goals against average (1.36) and goals saved above expected (12.2).

The Great Dane has been everything Carolina has needed and more and he's hands down their Conn Smythe favorite at this point.

6. Special Teams Edge

While the power play wasn't as potent as it was against New Jersey, it was good enough to get them through the series and it was better than Washington's was, which is the main key.

The Canes went 3-for-13 on the power play in the second round, and it really was only a difference maker in Game 3, where Jack Roslovic's PPG put the game essentially on ice after just two periods of play.

But the penalty kill came up time and time again, in absolutely crucial moments.

The Canes' kill went 13-for-15, conceding just one 5v4 goal and one 5v3 goal.

The timing of the kills was what was so good about them too.

First periods, in tied situations, holding onto one goal leads, with key killers in the box, etc.

There were so many times where a power play goal would have completely shifted the momentum of a game, but the PKers just wouldn't break and came through for the team when they needed it most.

7. Depth Scoring

Carolina is one of the deepest teams in the postseason and it showed in this series.

In total, the Canes had 11 different goal scorers across the five games and 16 different skaters registered at least one point.

Key additions like Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven have provided a solid layer of depth while the Canes' top guns continue to do work too.

The Hurricanes don't just rely on one line or a handful of players to get the job done. They need everybody to be successful and that's what you're seeing.

And not just offensively either. Everyone has to be able to play solid and dependable defense from the wingers all the way down to the defensemen.

Again, they're doing that and that's why they're having success.

8. Physical Edge

All I heard coming into this series was how Washington had a physical edge due to a few keys players and the overall size of their roster.

But after five games, the Canes outhit the Caps 210-179.

So what gives?

It's true in the regular season that the Hurricanes were one of the least physical teams in the league, but that's because A) they always control the puck and B) they're a veteran team that knows when it actually matters.

They weren't at all scared about the Capitals' size and really the only player that outhit them was Tom Wilson.

The Canes are much more rugged than they get credit for and they proved that in this series.

9. Health is Wealth

Carolina has been very fortunate on the health front this postseason.

While there has been a handful of injuries (Mark Jankowski and Jalen Chatfield), neither of those appear to be serious injuries that will keep either guy out of the lineup long term.

The Hurricanes were perhaps the healthiest team heading into the playoffs and they're just continuing to weather the grind of the postseason so far (knocks on wood).

I'm sure there's some bumps and bruises here and there that a lot of guys are dealing with, there's no major injury hampering the roster this season, which really hasn't been the case in any other year under Rod Brind'Amour.

If the Canes can continue to stay healthy, I like their odds here.

10. Boring? Really?

So one of the biggest social media/broadcast narratives that arose from this series is that the Canes play boring hockey.

Really?

This is a team that literally plays some of the most aggressive and direct, North-South hockey.

They throw shots to the net from all over the ice, their defensemen are constantly jumping up into plays and pinching down and they just love to create chaos.

I don't really get how that comes across as a boring or dull style at all because that's a fast-paced, in-your-face game, not some slow, methodical trap.

Is the team boring or do you just not like them/their fanbase/what they did to their opponents?

In my opinion, people should be more mad at both New Jersey and Washington for not putting up much of a fight.

Be sure to check out the Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hub for all postseason stories!  

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