Andrei Svechnikov broke a 1–1 tie with 1:59 left in regulation, scoring from a tough angle after a give-and-go with Sean Walker.

“I knew it’s a rush opportunity for us and I knew ‘Walksy’ was up top,” Svechnikov said. “I tried to pass it to him and he kind of give it to me back. I probably didn’t expect it, but it was right on my stick and at that point I only had a shot.”

Seth Jarvis added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left, and Carolina closed out the series in five games. The Hurricanes now await the winner of the Florida-Toronto series. The Panthers lead 3–2.

Captain Jordan Staal got the Hurricanes on the board in the first period with his first goal of the playoffs. He stripped Jakob Chychrun along the boards, passed it off, then scored on a return feed from Jordan Martinook.

“I think there was some ebbs and flows to the game, but for the most part we had a pretty consistent game,” Staal said. “Tight games like that it takes one bounce, and tonight it was Svech.”

The Capitals tied it a few minutes later. Jaccob Slavin’s clearing attempt took a weird bounce off the boards, landing right in front for Anthony Beauvillier to bang in Washington’s only goal.

They thought they’d taken the lead early in the second when Matt Roy buried a one-timer, but the play was offside on review. That was as close as they came.

Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for the Hurricanes, including a game-saving stop on Pierre-Luc Dubois early in the third.

“All of a sudden, we have that breakdown, and there’s a save,” said coach Rod Brind’Amour. “And he bails us out. And that’s what great goaltending does for a team.”

Logan Thompson made 18 saves for Washington but admitted the game-winner haunted him.

“It was a terrible goal to give up to end a season and I’ve got to wear that,” Thompson said. “Credit to Freddie Andersen. I thought he was the better goalie this series.”

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said the group believed they could go deep.

“We have a special group but obviously we have our chances,” Ovechkin said. “Maybe we don’t execute, maybe luck was not on our side… It’s tough.”

Carolina has now won 10 of 15 potential close-out games under Brind’Amour and returns to the conference final for the second time in three seasons.