With the regular season having concluded, hockey fans the world over are glued to the feeds of their favourite teams to follow the scores and all the storylines that come with the postseason. Here at Last Word on Hockey, we are no different in this excitement. With each series of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, our team will be reviewing and previewing the games we all want the saucy details on. So, grab your M&M’s and popcorn buckets and buckle up, folks. We are in for one wild ride as we dive into analysis on this Round Two playoff matchup.
From the Southeast Division to the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals have played in the same grouping since the 1998-99 season. Strangely, there has never been all that much of a rivalry between these two teams. This will only be the second time that Carolina and Washington have even faced each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is including the days of the Hartford Whalers). Despite this oddity, the series is sure to include some grit and action all the same as they try to claw their way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Carolina Hurricanes VS Washington Capitals 2024-25 Recap
The Calm Before the Storm
The early games between the Hurricanes and Capitals were rather standard, but not to be overlooked. The first meeting came in early November, with Carolina taking the win 4-2. Former Capital, Dmitry Orlov, tallied two goals, alongside a goal apiece by Martin Nečas and Andrei Svechnikov. Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin and Brandon Duhaime scored Washington’s two.
In their next game, just five days before Christmas, the Capitals were the winners. Blocking 27 shots, they held Carolina to just 25 shots on goal, protecting their netminder, Charlie Lindgren, who was battling illness. Gutting it out, Lindgren allowed only one goal within the final ten minutes, stopping try after try, including a ridiculous windmill save on Tyson Jost. The lone goal for Carolina belonged to Seth Jarvis, while Washington’s three were for Aliaksei Protas, Jakub Vrana, and Connor McMichael.
Pure Violence, Oh the Humanity
April 2nd’s game was, well, nothing short of entertaining. The Capitals had already clinched their spot in the playoffs, and the Hurricanes were aiming to do it by the end of the night. Carolina was on a heater, having won 11 of their 13 previous games, and the Washington Capitals had just played the Boston Bruins the night before. Within the first 20 minutes, Logan Thompson conceded three goals on 12 shots. Soon after, he took a shot from Sean Walker’s tape to his mask, leaving the game between the first and second periods due to an upper-body injury. He remained out of the lineup for quite some time in the following games.
The game ended 5-1 in Carolina’s favour, but that wasn’t the biggest headline of the match. Numerous fights sparked between the Hurricanes and Capitals. By the end of the night, the teams had accumulated 142 penalties in minutes, with the final seven minutes (and two seconds) taking 114 of them. The edge of the PIMs went to Washington, with 74, while Carolina assessed 68. Multiple fights took place, with eight game misconducts between the teams. The biggest moment of them all came when McMichael wanted to tango with Jalen Chatfield, who swiftly took him down in a judo-esque fashion. The sequence by Chatfield led to much scrutiny amongst the media and animosity from the Capitals.
The Carolina Hurricanes-Washington Capitals benches in the aftermath of whatever just happened#RaiseUp #ALLCAPS #NHL pic.twitter.com/E2f7hi6YrE
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) April 3, 2025
The Drama Remained Unsettled
Just as expected, it carried into their next game. Right on cue, Duhaime dropped the gloves with Chatfield before even ten minutes passed. Logan Stankoven started up the scoring, whereas Jackson Blake got the puck in the net by way of Tom Wilson, who had attempted to hit him and tumbled into Lindgren, pushing the rubber past the goal line in the process. Afterwards, the Capitals scored four in a row which were answered in the third period, taking it to overtime. The overtime went scoreless, leading to a shootout which was won by Washington.
https://www.twitter.com/rbarkleyhockey/status/1910489835300696078
Keys to Washington Capitals Victory VS Carolina Hurricanes
Capitalize on Takeaways
Though Washington sat in 22nd place in the season’s stats for shots on goal, with a mere 2,265 shots (over 300 less than Carolina), they led the league in shooting percentage with 12.6%. Meanwhile, a notable statistic in favour of Washington is Carolina’s tendency to giveaway pucks. In the regular season, the Hurricanes had 1,329 giveaways, the fourth most in the league. If the Capitals can manage to obtain more possession time by exploiting this glaring weakness and shoot more, they are bound to accumulate more goals.
Home Ice Advantage
Since Washington placed higher in the standings during the regular season, they will start things off from Capital One Arena. Home ice has truly been an advantage for both the Hurricanes and the Capitals. In each of their first round series, they won every game in front of their fans. Ironically, they both lost their first road games before finding their footing in the second game in the enemy’s territory. Additionally, the season series between the Hurricanes and the Capitals also seemed to support this classic edge, as each team won their games at home.
Keys to Carolina Hurricanes Victory VS Washington Capitals
Thunderous Special Teams
One thing often noted throughout the regular season was Carolina’s cold powerplay, a statistic in which they ranked 25th. However, that hasn’t been the case in the postseason. Currently, their power play percentage is 31.6%, a massive number sitting next to Washington’s 23.1%. On top of that, the Hurricanes are currently the only team who have effectively killed every penalty they’ve faced in the postseason so far. Jordan Martinook even scored short-handed in Game 2 against the New Jersey Devils. Considering the physical play displayed in the previous two games between these teams, which Dylan Strome and Wilson have essentially confirmed they will be replicating, it could be a strong benefit to the Hurricanes, so long as no injuries come from the physicality. Cooler heads may truly be the ones to prevail in this series, whoever it will be.
Continuous Pressure
In their season series together, Carolina had the edge when it came to possession and offence, with 135 total shots to Washington’s 92. With the Hurricanes’ ability to keep a hold of the puck against them in the regular season, not only were the Capitals unable to run away with a lead, but they were also outscored by the Hurricanes 14-11. Their skill in continually pressuring the goaltender and forcing their opponents’ offence to spend energy playing defence could be one of Carolina’s biggest benefits and could help them significantly.
Carolina Hurricanes VS Washington Capitals Prop Bets
Starting off your prop bets, we’ll discuss Carolina. To say in the series against New Jersey that Svechnikov was an X factor is an understatement. He currently leads the team in goals, is one of only three this postseason to score a hat-trick, and has an astounding 1.00 goals per game average. Whether that will carry onward against the Capitals is unknown, but he could be a fair pick. Additionally, Sebastian Aho continues to impress, leading the team in points, and would definitely be worth some thought. For a sleeper pick, Taylor Hall would be interesting. He’s only scored one goal so far (a tap in from Stankoven’s shot in their previous game), but his playmaking has certainly shined. Coming off signing a three-year extension with the Hurricanes could put a little pep in his already zesty step.
As for Washington, always consider Ovechkin. He, too, leads his team in goals and tends to always bring something to the table. In half of the regular season series with the Hurricanes, he scored, interestingly always in Lenovo Center. Additionally, Strome could be a good player to take a chance on. For one who may not be expected, Pierre-Luc Dubois may be one who we could see sneak into the scoresheet. He spends even more time on the ice than Ovechkin, averaging a little over 17 minutes per night. Considering the regular season he had, he has displayed both the skill and opportunity to get a point or two.
Prediction: Carolina wins series 4-3
Curious how these two teams faired in the first-round? Whether you want to know about Carolina’s previous matchup, what it looked like halfway through, or how it finished, or Washington’s previous matchup, mid-series recap, or review, we have all the details!
Main photo by: James Guillory-Imagn Images
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