The Washington Capitals, the Eastern Conference’s top dogs all season in the NHL, are staring down the barrel of elimination. After dropping Game 4 to the Carolina Hurricanes, they’re trailing 3-1 in their second-round playoff series. The offense, usually a well-oiled machine, has sputtered against Carolina’s suffocating defense. Missed shots, a power play that’s hit a brick wall, and a penalty kill from the Hurricanes that’s batting a ridiculous 92.6% have left the Caps frustrated and on edge. Regardless, the team is holding onto hope.
Carolina’s been a nightmare matchup. Their defense swarms the puck like bees, and every time the Caps clawed within one goal in Game 4, the Hurricanes had an answer. Washington’s power play, usually a strength, has been neutralized by Carolina’s league-best penalty kill. The result? A combined 9-2 drubbing in Games 3 and 4 in Raleigh. Ouch. But if you ask Tom Wilson, there’s still plenty of fight left in this team.
“We’re confident in our group,” Wilson said ahead of Thursday’s do-or-die Game 5 as the Washington Capitals posted it on their ‘X’ handle. “We’ve had resiliency all year. We love each other in here. We just want to go and leave it all out there and start to slowly try and push them out of the series.” That’s the kind of belief that keeps a locker room together when the chips are down. And they’re definitely down. Back home for Game 5, the Caps are shaking things up.
“We’re confident in our group. We’ve had resiliency all year. We love each other in here. We just want to go and leave it all out there and start to slowly try and push them out of the series.”
Tom Wilson on tomorrow’s must-win Game 5 for Washington.#ALLCAPS | @MedStarHealth pic.twitter.com/cywUGmgCf2
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 14, 2025
At Wednesday’s practice, coach Spencer Carbery tweaked the forward lines, reuniting Anthony Beauvillier with Dylan Strome and captain Alex Ovechkin (who took a maintenance day but is expected to play). Connor McMichael, a natural center who’s been riding the wing most of the season, is sliding back to the middle on the third line with Andrew Mangiapane and Ryan Leonard. Aliaksei Protas is now with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Wilson, while Lars Eller, who’s been quiet with just one assist in nine playoff games, is out of the third-line spot.
(The story is developing…)
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