WASHINGTON (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years.
Captain Jordan Staal got his first goal of the playoffs, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including several on Alex Ovechkin.
After a give and go with defenseman Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle with 1:59 remaining, and that was the difference in a game that was back and forth.
Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining.
The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential close-out games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind’Amour. They will face either Florida in a rematch of the 2023 East final or Toronto in a reminder of 2002, and the Panthers are up 3-2 with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night.
Carolina is 35-7-2 through 82 games and then two rounds when scoring first.
JETS 4, STARS 0
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves and Winnipeg beat Dallas to force a sixth game in the Western Conference semifinal series.
With Edmonton awaiting the winner in the conference final, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets avoided elimination to send the series back to Dallas for Game 6 on Saturday night.
Nikolaj Ehlers had two goals and Mark Scheifele and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored to back Hellebuyck in his second shutout of the playoffs.
Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots for Dallas. Stars captain Jamie Benn sucker-punched Scheifele during a late scrum, with Benn given a misconduct penalty and possibly facing a suspension for Game 6.
Scheifele opened the scoring at 6:17 of the second period with a shot that deflected off two Dallas players. Scheifele’s wrist shot from the right side hit Wyatt Johnston’s stick, then struck Thomas Harley skate in front of the net.
The Associated Press
