The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 Thursday night to take their second-round series in five games.
The Canes stymied the Caps, who finished as the top team in the East, and frustrated them thoroughly throughout the series.
After the series, Washington coach Spencer Carbery gave his flowers to the Hurricanes in his post-game presser.
"I just want to congratulate Rod and Carolina on moving on," Carbery said in his opening statement. "Tremendous team as we felt through that round. I have a lot of respect for the job he's done over the last seven years and the way they play. They were outstanding in the series. I was looking at it the other day or before the series started, seven years now since he's been there and they've just continued to push. They're a tough opponent, good team. As good as a team as there is in this league."
Carbery, who is in his second season as head coach of the Capitals, also heaped praise on Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
"Another shoutout just quickly, because he doesn't get enough credit," Carbery said. "He's started to get credit since the 4 Nations, but Jaccob Slavin. How he's not in the Norris Trophy conversation every single year, it doesn't seem right. Obviously the guys that are there are tremendous players in their own right, but he's one heck of a player."
On top of his overtime game winner in Game 1, Slavin led the Canes in ice time over the series, averaging 21:53 per game, and was an absolute force in strangling nearly all the offense out of the Capitals.
The veteran defenseman had 16 blocked shots and was breaking up play after play all throughout the five-game series.
"We battled it all series," Carbery said. "So you watched it on the film constantly. This team, and that's the reason I mentioned Slavin early because he leads the charge in this, 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.
'The Guys Trust Our Game': Rod Brind'Amour, Frederik Andersen, Sean Walker, Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov On Series Win Over Washington
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 Thursday night to take the series in five games and advance to the Eastern Conference Final.<br>
"It was suffocating, there was no space and guys could barely get shots off in that series. We have multiple guys that are sitting at two or three shots in five games, that had 30 goals in the regular season. They make it really, really challenging on you. They check well, their sticks are good, they skate. Worth opponent. Really good team."
Even when talking about where his team came up short, Carbery kept looping back to the game that the Hurricanes played.
"I think the main takeaways are this: Carolina is one heck of an opponent," Carbery said. "So all the things we're going to talk about of the shortcomings that we had, whether that be special teams, 5v5, scoring, depth scoring, we can break it all down, but the first part you have to look at is not the lack of that from the Washington Capitals, but how good the Carolina Hurricanes did that to the Washington Capitals. That's where my head goes.
"They are a handful and you can tell too that they've learned now how to win at this time of year. They don't get rattled and the game stays tight and could go either way, but you can just tell the experience and calmness of their group through various points in that series. Over the length of the five games of this series, they showed the quality of team that they are."
"Over the length of the five games of this series, they showed the quality of team that they are."-
Be sure to check out the Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hub for all postseason stories!
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.