The Washington Capitals have not looked great in this second round series with the Carolina Hurricanes. Monday night’s Game 4 in Raleigh was no exception as the Caps fell 5-2 and are now down 3-1 in the best-of-7 series. The season is now one game from ending and that’s well short of expectations.
The Hurricanes have clearly been the better team in this series. Carolina has gone on to score a combined nine goals in back-to-back games at home. Caps goalie Logan Thompson is doing all he can, especially after looking much better in the first two games at home.
The Capitals have struggled to keep possession of the puck, clear the puck out of the defensive zone, and score on the power play. At the end of the first period in Game 4, Washington had a chance to score on a four-minute power play after Jakob Chychrun took a high-stick to the face. Unfortunately, the team only had one shot and almost gave up a shorthanded goals.
Coming off a historic season, Alex Ovechkin hadn’t done much in the second round, but finally scored in the third period with a one-timer from his office on a 5-on-3 to keep his team alive.
However, the Caps have been victim to costly mistakes and bad luck like Rasmus Sandin getting his stick stuck in the boards, which allowed the Hurricanes to get the loose puck and score late in the contest.
Washington is also missing the injured defenseman Martin Fehervary, as Alex Alexeyev clearly hasn’t been the best substitute for him on the ice.
With the best record in the Eastern Conference and the team beating the Canadiens in the first round, the Capitals had ever reason to return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2018. However, Washington is now on the brink of elimination, a place they’ve been far too often.
