Photo: John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes will meet for only the second instance all-time in the postseason during the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Carolina came back from 2-0 and 3-2 series deficits and took Game 7 of the 2019 first-round series in overtime. The best-of-seven series will kick off with Game 1 on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena (7 PM ET, ESPN).

SCHEDULE

Graphic: @Capitals

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Carolina: 47-30-5 regular-season record (.604 points percentage), second in Metropolitan Division; 4-1 first-round series win over New Jersey Devils

Washington: 51-22-9 regular-season record (.677 points percentage), first in Eastern Conference; 4-1 first-round series win over Montreal Canadiens

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES

• 12/20/2024: 3-1 Washington

• 4/10/2025: 5-4 Washington (SO)

** N0te: Carolina hosted Washington, who played the second half of a back-to-back both instances they visited Raleigh, after coming off of two days of rested themselves each time

REGULAR-SEASON TEAM LEADERS

Ovechkin (1.12, 73 in 65), who missed 16 games with a broken leg in November and December, and Strome (1.00) both averaged at least a point-per-game for Washington. Ovechkin, Tom Wilson (33-32-65 in 81), and Aliaksei Protas (30-36-66 in 76) all hit the 30-goal mark while Strome (29) came up just short. Connor McMichael (26-31-57 in 82), Jakob Chychrun (20-27-47 in 74), and Pierre-Luc Dubois (20-46-66 in 82) all eclipsed 20.

Aho and Jarvis were the only Hurricanes to finish the season on the roster and hit the 25-goal, 60-point marks, respectively, after the team traded Martin Necas in January and Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline. Jarvis, Aho (29), Jack Roslovic (22), and Svechnikov (22) were the only Hurricanes to eclipse 20 goals.

FIRST ROUND TEAM LEADERS

Svechnikov co-led the NHL in goals with Minnesota Wild left-wings Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon through five games of the first round league-wide.

Strome was just a helper shy of Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and St. Louis Blues defenseman Cam Fowler of the league lead and co-led in points with Kaprizov and Fowler among players not participating in the Los Angeles Kings-Edmonton series.

REGULAR-SEASON TEAM STATISTICS

Both teams had nearly identical goals-against totals and ranked in the top five league-wide when it came to penalty-killing, where Carolina led the pack. The Hurricanes finished with the lowest shots-against, where the Capitals ranked 10th.

While both squads finished above .5 in every possession metric, Carolina led the NHL in each category. However, Washington had the best shooting percentage and better save percentage.

FIRST-ROUND TEAM STATISTICS

The Capitals and Hurricanes had identical goals and goals-against per game averages but Carolina had significantly better special teams. The Hurricanes had a slight advantage in shot suppression, though both teams thrived in that area during the first round.

Washington had the better expected goals ratio but Carolina fared better in the other two possession metrics. The Capitals were also better at finishing their chances.

GOALTENDING MATCHUP

Thompson, 28, performed better than Andersen, 35, in every category during the regular- and postseason. Andersen is expected to be ready after getting injured in the second period of Game 4 at New Jersey and not returning for the remainder of the first round.

Thompson played only one period against Carolina during the regular season, making nine saves on 12 shots-against (.750) on April 2. Andersen, 35, recorded a 1-0-1 record, .898 save percentage, and 2.41 goals-against average in the last two meetings.

Andersen topped both Thompson’s save percentage and goals-against average in four games during the first round.

INJURIES

Washington

• D Martin Fehervary (knee)
• LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
• C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
• RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Carolina

WILL WIN IF

Washington: the team continues to control the puck against a strong possession team and does not allow Carolina to spend long amounts of time in the offensive zone; steal at least a game out of Raleigh after the Hurricanes went an Eastern Conference-best 31-9-1 at home (which was also second in the NHL) during the regular season and won all three games at Lenovo Center in the first round (Washington went 25-13-3 on the road in the regular season – tied league lead with Toronto Maple Leafs – before splitting two games in Montreal during the first round, Carolina has gone under .500 on the road with a 16-21-4 regular-season record and split two postseason away contests); they win the special teams matchup

Carolina: Andersen outplays Thompson after falling to Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning, 2021), Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers, 2022/2024), Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers, 2023) the previous four seasons; they get scoring depth across their forward lineup; they turn their strong scoring-chance generation into more goals

X-FACTORS

Washington: C Pierre-Luc Dubois — The 26-year-old will likely get tasked with shutting down Aho and Svechnikov’s line after doing the same to Nick Suzuki’s in the first round. Dubois gives Washington an advantage down the middle, especially after Carolina parted with their second-line center in Necas during the regular season and may be vulnerable at that position. Dubois had a solid first round, when he tallied a .5386 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, but he has more offense in him than the two assists he notched in five games vs. Montreal. If Dubois produces more offense than he did in the first round, it could be a big difference maker for Washington.

Carolina: Andersen — Carolina was arguably the better team in each of the last two series losses but fell because their opponent had the superior goaltending. Once again in this series, Washington likely has the edge in net after Thompson had a breakout regular season and shined again in the first round. The Hurricanes will need timely saves to build momentum that compliments their possession dominance in the offensive zone and Andersen needs to continue to put up the numbers he turned in against New Jersey to give his team a boost.

PROJECTED LINES

Carolina

Svechnikov — Aho — Jackson Blake
Jordan Martinook – Jordan Staal — Jarvis
Taylor Hall – Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Logan Stankoven
Eric Robinson — Mark Jankowski — William Carrier

Slavin — Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov — Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere – Sean Walker

Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov

• Scratched
  • Roslovic
  • C Skylar Brind’Amour
  • C Tyson Jost
  • C Bradley Nadeau
  • D Riley Stillman
  • D Scott Morrow
  • D Domenick Fensore
  • G Spencer Martin

Washington

Ovechkin — Strome — Anthony Beauvillier
McMichael – Dubois — Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Protas

Chychrun — Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Roy
Alexander Alexeyev – Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

• Scratched
  • RW Taylor Raddysh
  • D Dylan McIlrath
  • D Ethan Bear
  • RW Ethen Frank
  • G Mitchell Gibson

BETTING ODDS (Caesers, as of 5/2)

• Series Betting
  • Carolina: -175
  • Washington: +148
• Series Score
  • Carolina 4-1: +500
  • Carolina 4-2: +350
  • Carolina 4-3: +475
  • Carolina 4-0: +900
  • Washington 4-3: +500
  • Washington 4-2: +675
  • Washington 4-1: +800
  • Washington 4-0: +1800
• Total Number Of Games
  • 4: +600
  • 5: +260
  • 6: +190
  • 7: +200
• Series Spreads
  • Series Handicap 2
    • Carolina +2.5: -800
    • Washington -2.5: +550
  • Series Handicap
    • Carolina +1.5: -320
    • Washington -1.5: +250
  • Series Handicap 3
    • Carolina -1.5: +120
    • Washington +1.5: -150
  • Series Handicap 4
    • Carolina -2.5: +270
    • Washington +2.5: -350

STAFF SERIES PREDICTIONS

• Jon: Washington in 7
• Ethan: Washington in 6
• Della: Washington in 7
• Diane: Washington in 7
• Harrison: Washington in 6
• Eric: Washington in 6
• Aaron: Washington in 7

By Harrison Brown