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Martin Fehervary, Washington Capitals (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

2 Takeaways From Capitals’ Game 4 Loss to the Hurricanes

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Christopher Babos | Last updated May 13, 2025 2:05 PM ET

The Washington Capitals are one loss from a postseason exit after a 5-2 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. Game 4 followed a familiar pattern at the Lenovo Center. In Game 3, Carolina jumped out to a second-period lead and never looked back with the 4-0 shutout win. They also held a multi-goal advantage on Monday, but the Capitals pushed back in the third period before Sean Walker’s late goal sealed Washington’s loss.

After missing the final seven games of the Capitals’ regular season, goaltender Logan Thompson has played admirably in eight postseason appearances, despite an early exit due to injury in Game 3 against the Montreal Canadiens in Round 1. Thompson battled through it and has remained a fixture in the crease for Washington since returning for Game 4. But he is missing a critical member of his shot-blocking unit, Martin Fehervary, whose absence might be too much to overcome during this postseason run.

Martin Fehervary’s Absence Looms Large

Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary was injured in the second-to-last game of the regular season in a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders. The 6-foot-2 blueliner twisted his right leg attempting to block a shot, resulting in a torn meniscus that required season-ending surgery. Before his injury, Fehervary had played all 81 games, with five goals and 25 points, averaging 19 minutes of ice time (TOI).

“It’s a massive loss for our team — really feel for him,” head coach Spencer Carbary said on April 22. “My heart hurts for him because he’s an unsung hero on our team. If you know the Washington Capitals, and if you’re around our team, he’s someone that goes unnoticed, that the rest of the hockey world probably doesn’t pay much attention to, but he’s a big part of the team.”

Fehervary was one of Carbary’s most-trusted options on the penalty kill, and the 25-year-old rewarded his coach’s faith with 150 blocked shots in 2024-25. That mark was tied for the team lead, but Trevor Van Riemsdyk blocked a shot against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season’s final game to finish with 151 blocks.

Forward Ryan Leonard arrived from college hockey and jumped straight into the NHL lineup, but that was not an option on the Washington blue line. The next man up was 25-year-old Alexander Alexeyev. The Russian defenseman has not recorded a point in nine postseason games this season and has a minus-2 rating in 10:22 TOI. After recording a plus-1 in Game 2 and Game 3 against the Canadiens in Round 1, Alexeyev has watched his ice time fall dramatically from 14 minutes to 5:48 on Monday night against Carolina; he did not play a shift over the final 25 minutes of the contest.

While Alexeyev has collected 12 blocks during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Capitals fans can only wonder how many blocks Fehervary would’ve collected if he were available.

Thompson Losing Goalie Duel Against Andersen

While the Hurricanes have outscored the Capitals 14-4 in Round 2, Thompson’s postseason statistics still rank in the top half of the league. Among goalies who have started at least five postseason games, the 28-year-old ranks third with a 2.45 goals-against average (GAA) and second with a .918 save percentage (SV%).

The biggest problem is that the NHL’s best in those categories is playing at the other end of the ice, Frederik Andersen. Like the New Jersey Devils in Round 1, the Capitals have struggled to score against the 35-year-old netminder, who sports an NHL-best 1.41 GAA and a .935 SV% through eight playoff games.

After starting the series with 14 shots on goal against the Hurricanes in Game 1, the Capitals totaled the same number of shots (21) in each of their three losses to Carolina. With a goalie as red-hot as the 6-foot-4 netminder from Denmark, an average of 19 shots per game will probably not be enough to stave off elimination against Carolina in Game 5 on Thursday night.