Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov delivering in NHL playoffs: This is ‘my time’
It has only been eight playoff games but that might be enough to say it: Andrei Svechnikov is playing like the Andrei Svechnikov that Carolina Hurricanes fans have longed to see.
He’s playing a power game. He’s scoring goals. He’s getting in his licks. He’s getting under the skin of opponents, making them lose their cool. He’s having an impact, game after game.
More than anything, he’s helping the Canes win Stanley Cup playoff games.
It was Svechnikov who scored the game’s first goal Saturday in a 4-0 victory over the Washington Capitals at Lenovo Center that goalie Frederik Andersen later called “textbook Hurricanes hockey,” and gave the Canes a 2-1 lead in the second-round series.
The Canes lost a second-period faceoff in the Caps zone, but Svechnikov made a quick move past defenseman John Carlson to grab the puck and beat goalie Logan Thompson as the Canes took a 1-0 lead.
“It wasn’t planned,” Svechnikov said of the play. “I just saw the puck and saw it was loose and tried to make the move and shot it.”
There were more Hurricanes goals to come — power-play scores by Jack Roslovic and Jackson Blake, plus a sweet shot by Eric Robinson from the left wing that beat Thompson high. The puck was in and out of the net so quickly that at first not everyone knew Robinson had scored.
But Svechnikov’s goal was the game-winner. It was a no-doubter, a forehand snipe.
After a hat trick against the New Jersey Devils in the opening round, Svechnikov said, “I love this time of the year. Playing a physical game and just trying to do everything I can to help my team win the game. Obviously, it was a hard season for me, but right now, in the playoffs, it’s kind of my time.”
And No. 37 has delivered. With six goals in the first eight playoff games, the forward has set a franchise record.
Svechnikov had the hat trick against the Devils in Game 4 of that series. No hats hit the ice at the Prudential Center, but Svechnikov’s neighbors saw to it that the lawn at his house in Raleigh was littered with hats the next day after the Canes returned from New Jersey.
Svechnikov followed with a goal in Game 5 as the Canes closed out the series. He had nine shots in the game and 15 in the last two games against the Devils.
Svechnikov did not have a point in the first two games against the Caps, but he did have a presence. He went face-to-face with a few players such as Nic Dowd, a feisty type, while doing his part to apply the Canes’ “stress game” to the Capitals all over the ice.
“That’s fine,” Svechnikov said. ”I love that, too, the little scuffles.”
What he has done is stay out of the big scuffles. As a rookie in the 2019 playoffs, he dropped the gloves to duel the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin and suffered a concussion. He has since said he would not back away from any physical challenges on the ice — “That’s hockey,” he said — but at 25 is wiser and more mature in making decisions under duress when tempers flare.
Saturday, Svechnikov nearly scored on a first-period backhander that hit the far post. He did not miss in the second period and finished the game with five of the Canes’ 47 hits.
Svechnikov was named the game’s third star and Roslovic, with a goal and assist, was the second star. Frederik Andersen, who became the first Canes goalie to notch a shutout since Antti Raanta in the 2022 playoffs, got the nod as first star.
“I just told him he’s the best goalie,” Svechnikov said, smiling. “He just played huge for us.”
Much has been expected from Svechnikov since the Russian winger was the No. 2 pick of the 2018 NHL draft — that after Carolina moved up to second in the draft lottery. Svechnikov has had his highs and lows in the NHL. He has been an NHL All-Star, winning the speed skating competition. He also has dealt with an ACL injury that required significant rehab and recovery.
A 30-goal scorer in 2021-22, Svechnikov appeared to have the skill, power and desire to become a 40-goal scorer, perhaps a perennial All-Star. But his past three seasons have had him score 23, 19 and then 20 goals in the 2024-25 regular season, and he was not happy with his production.
“He always plays with the same passion and pace,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’s hard on himself when things aren’t going well and that’s obviously why we love him, because he does care.”
The time to shine is in the Stanley Cup playoffs, on the biggest stage in hockey. Not that Svechnikov is thinking big-picture. Not now.
“Personally, I just try to focus on one game at a time,” he said Saturday. “I don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow or two days, five days. Just focus shift by shift and see how it’s going to go.”
So far, for Svechnikov and the Canes, it’s going more than well.
This story was originally published May 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
