Capitals and Hurricanes Perfectly Matched Playoff Series

The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes meet for just the second time in the postseason in the second round of the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite playing in the same division for 25-plus years, these two teams rarely meet in the playoffs. This year, the Eastern Conference goes through these two perfectly matched squads, and they meet in Washington D.C. for Game 1.

The Capitals enter this series as the higher seed, but the Hurricanes enter with a ton of momentum. The Canes dispatched the New Jersey Devils in their opening round series, eliminating them in five games. The Caps also took five games to dismantle a determined Montreal Canadiens team, battling through a fight that not many expected the Canadiens to put up. Both teams are riding high entering the second round and are eyeing the Eastern Conference Championship round.

This series will likely come down to which team gets more reliable starting goaltending. Both believe they have the edge in net. The Caps are backstopped by Logan Thompson, who is continuing his career best regular-season into the postseason. He went 4-1 in the opening round, coupled with a 2.23 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

The Canes counter with a tandem of Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. Andersen is the starter, but injuries sidelined him for the final game and a half of the opening round. Kochetkov stepped in and won the series-clinching game, giving Carolina two goaltenders they have complete trust in. If Andersen is healthy, he'll likely get the nod in Game 1 and onward.

The special teams battle will be crucial in this series as well. Both teams are excellent 5-on-5 teams. The Hurricanes consistently dominate shot generation and possession numbers under current head coach Rod Brind'Amour, and the Capitals are a team that grinds away at you at even strength. It makes the special teams battle all the more important.

The Hurricanes were perfect on the penalty kill in the opening round. The Devils' power play was snuffed out with ease by the suffocating penalty killing of the Canes. That mindset and approach has to follow the team into Round Two. The Capitals converted on 23.1% of their power play opportunities, setting up the ultimate special teams matchup in this series.