By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years.
Captain Jordan Staal got his first goal of the playoffs, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including several on Alex Ovechkin.
After a give and go with defenseman Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle with 1:59 remaining, and that was the difference in a game that was back and forth.
Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining.
The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential close-out games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind’Amour. They will face either Florida in a rematch of the 2023 East final or Toronto in a reminder of 2002, and the Panthers are up 3-2 with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night.
Carolina is 35-7-2 through 82 games and then two rounds when scoring first.
Despite an unassisted goal by Anthony Beauvillier and some important saves among the 18 from Thompson, the Capitals saw their season end after finishing atop the conference and the Metropolitan Division and beating Montreal in the first round to win a playoff series for the first time since their Stanley Cup run in 2018. Washington started strong, got a few quality scoring chances but could not get through tight-checking defense to prolong the series.
After giving up the back-breaker to Svechnikov, Thompson was pulled for an extra attacker and the Capitals were unable to equalize and let Jarvis get to the loose puck for the empty-netter.
Up next, Carolina would have home-ice advantage against Florida and open on the road if it’s Toronto.