Do Hurricanes play ‘boring’ hockey? No, just a winning kind in beating Capitals
What’s that some people are saying, that the Carolina Hurricanes play a boring brand of hockey?
That seems to be a narrative some NHL observers have offered up of late, but there’s another narrative also continuing to grow and unfold: The Hurricanes keep winning.
Since the Stanley Cup playoffs began, the Canes have polished off the New Jersey Devils in five games and now have taken care of the Capitals in a five-game series.
Andrei Svechnikov’s goal, off a sharp-angle shot with 1:59 left in regulation, was the game-winner Thursday as the Hurricanes earned a 3-1 victory over the Caps at Capital One Arena that has earned them a berth in the 2025 Eastern Conference final.
The Canes advanced to face either the Florida Panthers or Toronto Maple Leafs. The Panthers, the Cup champions a year ago, hold a 3-2 series lead over the Leafs and will host Game 6 of their series on Friday.
The Leafs, who won the Atlantic Division in the regular season, would hold the home-ice advantage over the Canes should they win their series. A Canes-Panthers series would start with the first two games at Lenovo Center and be a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference final that had Florida win in a four-game sweep.
In the end, the Canes stopped the Caps, the Metropolitan Division winners, behind consistently strong goaltending from Frederik Andersen, a stingy defense that limited shot totals and scoring chances to the point of frustration, and offensive contributions from all over the lineup. The Canes have an experienced team, one hardened in the playoffs
“We do have guys who have been through this for many years, and together, which is important,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We did add a bunch of new guys, too. I think they’ve all come in and really bought into what we try to do as a group. I think you see it in the results.
“We’ve lost a lot of good pieces along the way that we didn’t want to lose, which is the nature of the game. But we were able to keep the guys who are still here and they don’t allow for anything else to creep in. Those guys make sure that this is how we want it done, and everyone does it.”
The game Thursday marked the long-awaited debut of Russian defenseman Alexander Nikishin. With defenseman Jalen Chatfield unable to play because of an undisclosed injury, Nikishin was inserted into the Canes lineup, getting off to a shaky start but later settling into the game to make some plays.
A bad turnover early in the second period nearly resulted in a Caps goal by Matt Roy, but it was overturned on a coach’s challenge for offside entering the Carolina zone. Nikishin, who took the rookie’s “solo lap” before the pregame warmup, would have 10:33 in ice time in his first game, with two shots on goal and two hits.
“I’ve got to give our ‘D’ a ton of credit and especially the five guys who played a ton,” Brind’Amour said. “We threw a kid in there tonight in a real tough spot, and the other guys kind of picked up the slack. … He hung in there and you can see he’s going to be a good player for us.”
Svechnikov scored off a rush into the Washington zone.. On a give-and-go with defenseman Sean Walker, Svechnikov scored his eighth goal in the 10 playoff games with a bullet of a shot from the bottom of the right circle that goalie Logan Thompson did not see or stop — Thompson was left shaking his head after watching the replay on the scoreboard.
“All year we’ve been waiting for that Andrei,” Brind’Amour said. “Any team that’s playing now you’ve got to have your top guys going or you’re not still here.”
Jordan Staal scored for the Canes and Anthony Beauvillier for the Caps in the opening period. But it went to the third period a 1-1 tie as the Caps tried to ward off the end of a marvelous season that had Alexander Ovechkin pass Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time goal scorer with a 44-goal regular season.
Nikishin, who came to the Canes after the KHL season ended in April, was paired with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere much of his first game despite some concerns about on-ice communication — Nikishin speaks very little English — and shaky moments in the defensive zone at times.
A Nikishin turnover early in the second period came when he misplayed a backhander trying to clear the zone. But Roy’s apparent goal was challenged and overturned when it was ruled Connor McMichael entered the zone offside before Roy’s shot.
Staal ripped a shot past Thompson after winger Jordan Martinook won a puck battle along the boards and got the puck to the Canes captain. Staal’s 37th career playoff goal came on a shot over Thompson’s shoulder.
The Caps scored after Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin tried to make a D-to-D pass to Brent Burns, but had the puck hit the end boards and bounce back off the side of the net. Beauvillier hopped on the loose puck and poked it past Andersen.
Both teams had a slew of chances to take a 2-1 lead, only to be denied. The Canes’ Logan Stankoven missed an open net late in the first period and Seth Jarvis, on a power play in the final seconds of the second period, had a shot ring off the crossbar.
Jarvis would later score an empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to seal the victory.
Andersen made a sparkling save on a shot by Pierre-Luc Dubois early in the third, only to have Martinook called for charging. The Canes then killed off the penalty and Thompson had to turn back a shorthanded attempt by Jarvis as the Caps’ power play expired and it stayed 1-1.
Nikishin had 10:33 of ice time in his NHL debut. He had seven shifts in the first period, five in the second and just four in the third, but was on the ice when the game ended.
“I don’t know if this team gets maligned because we don’t have an Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer of all time ... or superstar players,” Brind’Amour said. “But we have a little different mix and we think we do have those players, but they do it a little differently.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 9:50 PM.
