Capitals beat the Hurricanes in a shootout to secure the 1st playoff seed in the Eastern Conference

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson scored his career-best 33rd goal of the season and the Washington Capitals wrapped up the top spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in a shootout Thursday night.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the shootout winner after the Capitals rallied from a 2-0 deficit, then blew a 4-2 lead, with Carolina’s Jordan Martinook and Seth Jarvis scoring in the third period to tie it. That came after Washington’s scoring spree in the second, with Dylan Strome, Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson all putting goals past Frederik Andersen.

Alex Ovechkin assisted on Strome’s goal, his 26th of the season, after getting honored in a pregame ceremony for scoring his 895th career goal to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record on Sunday at the New York Islanders.

Dubois also scored in regulation, while Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves and stayed in the game after a nasty collision seven minutes in on Carolina’s second goal.

The Hurricanes, who are locked into second place in the Metropolitan Division and a first-round matchup against New Jersey, got to overtime but lost their fourth in a row. Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake also scored, and Andersen allowed four goals on 28 shots in regulation.

Capitals beat the Hurricanes in a shootout to secure the 1st playoff seed in the Eastern Conference | iNFOnews.ca — Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd (26) celebrates after his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Brandon Duhaime and Jalen Chatfield dropped the gloves early to settle a score from the teams’ game last week. The Capitals were unhappy with Chatfield’s takedown of Connor McMichael at the end of their fight.

Takeaways

Hurricanes: Goaltending may be an issue, and coach Rod Brind’Amour may need to consider Pyotr Kochetkov over Andersen in the playoffs.

Capitals: After moving past Ovechkin getting the record, this was more the kind of hockey they want to be playing this late in the regular season.