Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will face the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of this NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup on Monday.

Goaltender Frederik Andersen has given Canes a comfort level with his play in net that allowed them to be aggressive and take 3-1 series lead.

The Capitals have no other choice, trailing the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Second Round heading into Game 5 of the best-of-7 series at Capital One Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS). After losing the past two games on the road, Washington returns home with its season on the brink of elimination.

The Carolina Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals in the second round of the NHL Playoffs with a 2-1 lead in the series.

The Washington Capitals finally scored on the road in the second round, but the Carolina Hurricanes scored more, and the Canes took a 3-1 series lead over the Caps after a Game 4 win Monday night.

The Hurricanes do not appear to be making any changes for Game 5. Defenseman Jalen Chatfield was the only player who did not practice on Thursday. Alexander Nikishin, who has yet to make his NHL debut, took Chatfield’s spot on the defensive pairing with Dmitry Orlov.

The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes play Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Monday in Carolina.

The Washington Capitals face the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the second-round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday, May 10, 2025. The game will be broadcast at 6 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV. If you don’t have cable, here’s how you can watch the game.

The Carolina Hurricanes get two chances on their home ice with Games 3 and 4 looming against the Washington Capitals in their NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs series.

As much as the Hurricanes won Game 4, the Capitals lost it with a lack of execution at too many key times. Like in Game 3, they had chances in the first 10 minutes to seize control of the game. They couldn't finish.