Capitals eliminate Canadiens in Game 5, will play Hurricanes in second round

The Washington Capitals have punched their ticket to the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With a 4-1 victory on Wednesday, the Capitals eliminated the Montreal Canadiens, setting up a second-round series against the Metropolitan Division rival Carolina Hurricanes. Powering the Capitals to victory Wednesday were goals by Tom Wilson, Brandon Duhaime, Jakob Chychrun, and captain Alex Ovechkin.

The Capitals closed out the first round led by center Dylan Strome who notched nine points counting two goals and seven assists through the five games, highlighted by the winning tally coming in Game 2. Beyond Strome, the Capitals also saw an impressive showing between the pipes where goaltender Logan Thompson posted a .923 save percentage in the series.

The Capitals now ready for the Hurricanes, who on Tuesday became the first team to complete their opening-round series after finishing off the New Jersey Devils in five games. In the regular season, the Capitals and Hurricanes faced off four times, with the Hurricanes carrying a 2-1-1 series lead. Carolina and Washington have met once previously in the postseason, coming in 2019 when the Hurricanes prevailed in seven games.

The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs marks the 11th time in the past 12 years in which the Capitals have competed in the postseason, a stretch highlighted by Washington’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship coming in 2018. Last spring, the Capitals were ousted in the opening round after being swept by the divisional rival New York Rangers.

Following last season’s early exit, the Capitals underwent an offseason facelift that saw the club recruit Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators and Thompson from the Vegas Golden Knights, while fellow netminder Darcy Kuemper was shipped to the Los Angeles Kings for center Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The Capitals closed out the regular season atop the Eastern Conference with a 51-22-9 record and 111 points.