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Capitals Center Drops Confident Message Despite Loss to Hurricanes

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt Levine | Last updated May 7, 2025 3:09 PM ET

The Washington Capitals fell short of taking Game 1 from the Carolina Hurricanes to open the second-round playoff series. Despite having home-ice advantage, Washington was unable to get the win and now finds itself down a game in the series.

Carolina won the game 2-1 in overtime, with defenseman Jaccob Slavin scoring the game-winning goal. Washington was stunned when the puck went through the net, sending the Capitals fans home empty.

The Capitals' offense was kept at bay in Game 1, only getting off 14 shot attempts. The Hurricanes' defense was swarming and limited the explosive Washington offense to start the series.

Capitals center Nic Dowd spoke with the media about the Game 1 loss, discussing what went wrong. Dowd mentioned that the Capitals didn't play well, but still had a chance to win the matchup.

“Goal is to suffocate teams in the o-zone to the point where you are punting the puck out...all in all, we didn’t play a very good game. And we still had an opportunity to win that game.", he said.

“All in all, we didn’t play a very good game. And we still had an opportunity to win that game.” —Nic Dowd breaks down what went wrong in Game 1 #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/TexY2PF2nK
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) May 7, 2025

In contrast to the lack of offensive chances from the Capitals, the Hurricanes were able to generate 33 shot attempts. If Washington wants to have any chance in this series, it will need to put together a better game plan to create more scoring opportunities.

The Capitals have a solid offensive attack, led by legend Alexander Ovechkin. But at least for this game, the Hurricanes found a way to neutralize Washington.

However, the loss hasn't cut the confidence of the Capitals. Dowd revealed that the team isn't giving up hope.

“Now, we have another potential six games, and we’ll start with tomorrow.”, he said.

Washington will need a better game plan in Game 2, otherwise, they face the rough reality of going back to Carolina down 0-2 in this series.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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