Spencer Carbery on Capitals falling in five games to suffocating pressure from Hurricanes: ‘I hate, hate, hate losing a series to them’

The Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the Washington Capitals in just five games of their second-round series. The Capitals, the NHL’s second-highest scoring team during the regular season (3.49 goals per game), managed just seven goals in their five games against the Hurricanes (1.4 goals per game).

Carolina’s defensive pressure was so relentless that shots, let alone goals, became a precious commodity for the Capitals throughout the series. The Hurricanes held the Caps to under eight shots in 11 of the 15 regulation periods, with the Capitals’ highest shot volume output being 21 in Games 2, 3, and 4.

“We battled it all series,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “[Carolina] is just relentless with their pressure, and their ability to break plays up with their sticks. There’s no team in the league like it. Doesn’t mean they’re going to win the cup. They absolutely are right there, but they are a handful.

“You can tell, too, they’ve learned now how to win this time of year, and they don’t get rattled. It’s a great series for us. I hate, hate, hate — and I won’t be able to let it go for a while — losing a series to them, but it is a great learning experience to feel what that just felt like because it was suffocating and guys had no space, could barely get shots off in that series.”

No Capitals player had more than two points in the series with John Carlson, Tom Wilson, Jakob Chychrun, Aliaksei Protas, and Dylan Strome tying at the top of the team leaderboard. Not one player scored more than one goal, meaning seven players tied for the team lead in goal-scoring at one.

“We have multiple guys that are sitting at two or three shots in five games, that have 30 goals in the regular season,” Carbery said. “So they make it really, really challenging on you. They check well. Their sticks are good. They skate. So it’s a worthy opponent. Really good team.”

Alex Ovechkin, the team’s leader in goals during the regular season (44), was the lone player to record more than 10 shots on goal (14). Aliaksei Protas, one of the 30-goal scorers Carbery mentions, recorded just three shots. The same goes for 26-goal scorer Connor McMichael, who also managed just three shots.

Overall in the series at five-on-five, the Hurricanes controlled 62.6 percent of the shot attempts, 57.7 percent of the expected goals, 57.6 percent of the scoring chances, and 52 percent of the high-danger chances. They also got unbelievable goaltending from Frederik Andersen whenever they did have a letdown, as Andersen finished with a 4-1 record, a 1.19 goals-against average, and a .937 save percentage.

The Hurricanes will now move on to the Eastern Conference Final, where they will face the Toronto Maple Leafs-Florida Panthers series winner. The Panthers are up 3-2 in the second round after a blowout 6-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Alex Ovechkin on the Capitals’ second-round elimination to the Hurricanes

Alex Ovechkin briefly spoke to the press after the Washington Capitals were eliminated in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals lost 3-1 in Game 5. Andrei Svechnikov scored the series-winning goal with under two minutes remaining in the third period.

Ovechkin, 39, finished the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 6 points in 10 games, leading the team in goals with 5.

He’s only gotten past the second round once: when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018.

Questions are edited for brevity.

How tough is it to go out like this?

Alex Ovechkin: “Yeah, it’s tough, obviously. We have a special group, but obviously, you know, we have our chances. Maybe we don’t execute, maybe luck was not on our side, because I don’t think we played bad hockey. I think we have lots of great chances to get the lead, but it’s tough.”

What made this group so special this season?

Alex Ovechkin: “Everything was clicking right away since the first practice, that first day of training camp. Everybody seemed calm and friendly, and it’s grown like a snowball.”

Was third period as well as you’ve played in series without scoring?

Alex Ovechkin: “Yeah. How I said, they played tight in their zone, we played tight in our zone, and it kind of was who scored on a goal. You can see all those games when (it was) one goal differentiation. How I said, maybe we just don’t have luck because I don’t feel like we played bad hockey in Carolina. The first period, the first 10 minutes, we had so many chances to get a lead and turn this game in our way, but we didn’t. Obviously, it’s tough, but that experience that we have this year is going to help for the future a hundred percent.”

Why was their PK so tough to solve?

Alex Ovechkin: “We knew exactly what they’re going to do. We tried different things. Obviously, they’re a top PK in the league and we have some great looks, but how I said, something was missing. Maybe it was a little bit pressure on our shoulders, but when you have a puck on your stick, you try to find something better than you have, and that maybe cost us. We didn’t score lots of goals on the power play.”

Alex Ovechkin: “Yeah, it’s too soon.”