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Sean Walker of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with teammates after a goal during the third period of Game Four of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals (Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images)

Hurricanes Win 5-2 Over Capitals to Take a 3-1 Series Stranglehold

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Martin | Last updated May 12, 2025 10:28 PM ET

On Monday night (May 12), the Carolina Hurricanes were looking to take a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 after defeating the Washington Capitals in Game 3 on May 10, 4-0. The Capitals were looking to avoid being down by a wide margin and having all the pressure on them when the series goes to Game 5 back in Washington, D.C. However, that is what they will have to deal with as the Hurricanes now have a 3-1 stranglehold on the series after winning 5-2 in Game 4 on Monday night.

Game Recap

The first three games did not see a goal in the first period; however, that changed thanks to Shayne Gostisbehere‘s third goal of the playoffs, which gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. The first seven minutes of the period saw some fast back-and-forth between the two sides, with the Capitals outshooting the Hurricanes 7-3 at one point. Despite the slightly slow start, Frederik Andersen stood tall for the Hurricanes, and the offense got going as the period went on. Carolina’s penalty killers once again played strong as they only had 24 seconds left on a Jordan Martinook double-minor to start the second period. Gostisbehere’s goal was the Hurricanes’ fifth consecutive in the series, going back to Game 3. After the first 20 minutes, the Hurricanes outshot the Capitals 13-8 and led 1-0.

The Hurricanes killed off the rest of the double-minor from the first period after another strong penalty kill. After being close to scoring in Game 3, Seth Jarvis was able to capitalize on the rebound following a Sebastian Aho shot on Logan Thompson. His third of the playoffs gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead just a tad over a minute into the second period after killing off the penalty.

Frustration began to show on the Capitals as they tried to bait Hurricanes players after whistles. However, that usually doesn’t work out as Carolina rarely falls for extracurriculars. After two periods, the Hurricanes led in shots on goal 25-15 (12-7 in the second period for the Hurricanes).

The third period was a scoring parade after five were scored in the final 20 minutes. Jakob Chyrchrun scored the first Capitals goal in over five periods, and Alexander Ovechkin scored his first of the series on a 5-on-3 advantage. However, the Hurricanes scored three of their own in the period to secure the win.

After the Chychrun goal, Taylor Hall scored his second goal of the playoffs after a great pass by Jack Roslovic to spring him for the breakaway. The goal gave the Hurricanes their two-goal lead again. Following the Ovechkin goal, Sean Walker scored his first career playoff goal, giving them the 4-2 lead for the insurance late in the third period. That was not the last one as Andrei Svechnikov scored his team-leading seventh goal of the playoffs to ice the game 5-2 as the Hurricanes take a 3-1 series lead.

Back to D.C. on Thursday

The Hurricanes take a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 on Thursday night (May 15) back in Washington, D.C., as they look to finish the series earlier than people expected. They will have a couple of days between games to rest up, but all the momentum is on their side while the Capitals have all the pressure on them to not lose at home and be eliminated. The start of Game 5 is set for a 7 p.m. Eastern puck drop. The game will be aired on TNT, truTV, and MAX. Hurricanes fans can listen to the game on 99.9 The Fan.