WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Hurricanes seized home-ice advantage with their 2-1 overtime win in Game 1 of their second round series against the Capitals. Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin won the game at 3:06 of overtime, his shot from the right point finding its way through a maze of bodies and under Washington goalie Logan Thompson to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 series lead.
1. Slavin’s winner was the second overtime victory of the postseason for Carolina, which closed out its first round series against the Devils on Sebastian Aho’s power play goal in overtime of Game 5 a week earlier.
It’s a positive trend for the Hurricanes, who had lost six straight playoff overtime games — including a Game 3 double-overtime loss to the Devils on April 25 — dating back to the 2023 Eastern Conference final against the Panthers.
Carolina has had streaks of overtime success and failure under coach Rod Brind’Amour. Before the six-game overtime losing streak, the Hurricanes had won seven straight OT games from May 2021 to May 2023.
Under Brind’Amour, Carolina is 11-10 in playoff overtimes. Jordan Staal has three of the OT winners, while Aho and Jesper Fast each have a pair. Frederik Andersen improved to 3-4 in overtime games with the Hurricanes, posting a 1.74 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the greatest of goals,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Slavin’s goal after the win, “but they all count.”
2. The Hurricanes’ 94 all-situations shot attempts were the third most they have had in any game this season, bested only by two games: their 4-1 loss in Utah on Nov. 13, during which they had a 99-47 advantage, and their overtime win in Game 5 against the Devils (113-51).
On Tuesday in D.C., Carolina had 73.44% of the all-situations shot attempts, including 75.96% at 5-on-5, and doubled up the Capitals in shots on goal (33-14) and scoring chances (40-20), according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
“We’re going to need to bring that down,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said of the Hurricanes’ decided possession advantage. “Is it still going to be probably in the 60s, maybe 70s? Yeah, probably around there. That’s around their average. So you’re not going to eliminate what they do well, you just have to get it back to balancing out. We didn’t get nearly enough on their half; they were in our end for way too long.”
The Hurricanes are the NHL’s Corsi kings year after year (59.15% in the 2024-25 regular season), and they again lead this postseason. Carolina has performed similarly through six playoff games, owning 59.08% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, while Washington is second to last at 41.63%, ahead of only Dallas (41.4%).
3. The Hurricanes didn’t have the benefit of final change since they were the visiting team, but that didn’t seem to matter. It was a masterclass in Hurricanes hockey, with all four of Carolina’s lines dominating possession against the shell-shocked Capitals.
“I just think it was one line after another,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said Wednesday. “We kind of had the same kind of plan. Everybody was just trying to get in on the forecheck, trying to eliminate time and space. … When everybody’s kind of pulling on the same rope and doing it, it looks like that. So that was obviously a good game for us, and we need to keep that mindset going forward.”
The Hurricanes didn’t use their fourth line much after Mark Jankowski exited the game with just under five minutes left in the second period. Neither William Carrier nor Eric Robinson, who were playing on Jankowski’s wing, eclipsed two minutes combined ice time in the third period and overtime after the center left the game.
Brind’Amour said Wednesday that Jankowski would likely be a game-time decision for Thursday’s Game 2, though he said the 30-year-old was feeling better than the night before.
“I think he’s definitely better today, Brind’Amour said. “So another day tomorrow and we’ll see.”
If Jankowski can’t play, Brind’Amour would likely go to Jack Roslovic in his place, though Tyson Jost could also be an option. Jost has six goals and 10 points in 46 career playoff games, compared to Roslovic’s two goals and 14 points in 39 games.
4. When you have a Tom Wilson on your roster, you usually get labeled as the more physical team in a playoff series. So it was heading into the Hurricanes-Capitals series.
But it was Carolina, not Washington, that asserted itself physically in Game 1.
“I think you get into playoffs, every team’s thinking you can wear guys down or just make people second guess a decision,” Martinook said of the Hurricanes upping their physicality in the postseason. “And it’s not like we’re going out trying to make huge hits every shift. It’s just try and take a piece here, take a piece there.”
And despite a decided possession advantage, Carolina still outhit the Capitals 44-31 on Tuesday.
Wilson did finish with a team-high six hits for Washington, but the Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov matched that, and William Carrier — signed last offseason specifically to bring a heavier element to the lineup — finished with seven in 8:38 of ice time.
“With our speed and the way we forecheck, it can be long nights for defensemen and forwards, for that matter,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said before Game 1.
Carolina was definitely “chipping away,” as Staal said, at the Capitals in the series opener, and the Washington players and staff have already circled that as something they need to do better for the rest of the series.
“I think we need to be a little bit more physical,” Capitals center Nic Dowd said Wednesday, “but I don’t think that’s something that you have to chase. … I don’t think they’re going to back down at this point in the year.”
Forward Brandon Duhaime added that the Capitals need “just more of an aggressive game.”
Carbery said after Tuesday’s Game 1 it was “surprising” the Hurricanes were able to be the more physical team and also have the puck much of the night.
“When you don’t have the puck, you’re usually initiating contact to try and get it back,” he said.
5. The Hurricanes’ penalty kill stayed perfect for the postseason, going 2 for 2. Carolina allowed three shots on Washington’s first period power play — including an Alex Ovechkin one-timer that exploded Wilson’s stick in front of Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen — and none on an early third period opportunity with the Capitals looking to build on their 1-0 lead.
“It’s just trying to outwork them, trying to pressure when you can,” Martinook said of Carolina’s league-best PK. “And I don’t think there’s any secret sauce. It’s just kind of how we’ve done it for a couple years. It’s obviously something that you need this time of year, and we’re going to continue to try and be good at it.”
For the first time in franchise history, including the Whalers years, the Hurricanes have gone six straight postseason games without allowing a goal. That broke a tie with the 2022-23 team that shut out the Islanders’ power play in the final three games of their Round 1 series and the Devils in Games 1 and 2 in the second round before allowing a goal.
Carolina is now 17 for 17 this postseason, and only the Panthers — who have given up two goals on 23 opportunities (91.3%) — are within shouting distance of the Hurricanes. Only four teams (Dallas is at 86.4%; Vegas is at 80%) are at or above 80% in these playoffs. During the regular season, 11 of the NHL’s 32 teams finished better than 80%.
