(Photo: The Score, NHL)
The Carolina Hurricanes are on the brink of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals after a win in there game last night giving them a 3-1 lead on the Washington Capitals. The Hurricanes will have a chance to clinch in Washington on Thursday night.
Defence man Sean Walker and forward Taylor Hall each contributed a goal and an assist. Production from Hall is a big thing because he has struggled to find his former form this season for the Hurricanes. Goalie Freddy Anderson had a relatively quiet night making 19 saves off of his 21 shots against. The Hurricanes set the tone with former Philly Flyers D Man Shayne Gostisbehere scoring early. The Hurricanes did have there disciplinary issues they faced though as the team took 2 penalties in the first with one of them being a 4 minute double minor. The Canes penalty kill stood up to the challenge though killing the penalties off in clean fashion.
In the 3rd period the Canes took a 3-1 advantage as Taylor hall scored his second goal of the playoffs. the Canes would carry this lead for a little bit in the 3rd period. The Great 8 would get the Caps within one with his patented 1 timer on the Power play the Canes could only get away with so much against this top power play. This marked Ovi’s 5th goal this playoffs which has the 39 year old tied for the 5th spot in the playoffs so far. Even though the Caps cut the lead to 1 the Hurricanes defence just overwhelmed the Caps offence. The Caps could not get anything going. Defence man Sean Walker would put the dagger into Caps fans hearts as he scored a late goal to give the Canes the Cushion they needed for the final 2 minutes. Coach Rod Brind’Amour actually switched Walker on the first pair of defence for this game and it worked out well for him. Heres the goal scored by Walker, https://x.com/illegallybIond3/status/1922338729009533120.
The Caps would pull there goalie but it was no use as Andrei Svechnikov would rub salt in the wound of the Caps fans notching an empty net goal putting the game away for good and giving the Canes a 3-1 series lead.
The series now shifts back to Washington for a must win game 5. The Caps are going to need a lot more help on the offensive end, and they are going to need to figure out how to get pasted this stubborn Carolina defence.