The Carolina Hurricanes are headed back to the Eastern Conference Final after defeating the Washington Capitals in five games, thanks to a 3-1 win Thursday night at Capital One Arena.
Andrei Svechnikov continued his legacy run, scoring the series-clinching goal with just 1:59 to go in regulation and Frederik Andersen remained at the top of the goaltending ranks with yet another quality start.
But it was truly another full-team effort that propelled Carolina back to hockey's Final Four.
It's the third time in seven years (since Rod Brind'Amour took over as head coach) that Carolina has made the ECF, but they're still looking for their first win there since 2006.
It was the captain, Jordan Staal, that got the ball rolling for the team, beating Logan Thompson far-side from the right wing for his first of the postseason.
The Capitals would answer back, with Anthony Beauvillier capitalizing off of a rare turnover by both Jaccob Slavin and Andersen in subsequential order and it looked like they were going to take a 2-1 lead not too long after too.
Matt Roy had a long-distance shot that beat Andersen, but the Canes' video staff caught the play having been offsides earlier to keep the game tied.
From there, it was a back and forth battle between the Caps and the Canes, with Carolina getting denied twice on last-second attempts.
Logan Stankoven was stopped by the heel of Thompson's blade at the end of the first and then Seth Jarvis double-doinked the frame of the net at the buzzer of the second period.
But it was the end of the third period where Carolina finally converted as a Svechnikov's far-out shot somehow beat the Capitals netminder to put the Canes ahead.
Jarvis then sealed it with the empty-netter.
It was a tight-checking series all the way, but it became increasingly evident that the Capitals just couldn't keep up with the Hurricanes and so it became more of a matter of when rather than if.
Even in what was a must-win home game for Washington, they only mustered nine shots on goal in the first two periods and 19 overall.
They just couldn't get through Carolina's defense.
And when the Hurricanes countered, the Capitals struggled to contain them.
In the end, the Canes outscored Washington 15-7 and outchanced them 319-197.
Now they await the winner between the Toronto Maple Leafs (2) and Florida Panthers (3).
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.