You could feel the collective exhale from Red Deer to Raleigh when the final horns died out. On back‑to‑back nights, the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes slammed the door on their second‑round opponents, each wrapping things up in five business‑like games.

First came the late‑night drama in the desert. Edmonton, a team used to getting mocked for run‑and‑gun habits, gutted out 60 scoreless minutes before Kasperi Kapanen jammed home an overtime rebound that sent the Oilers to the Conference Finals. Twenty‑four hours later the Hurricanes replied with their own mic‑drop moment: with less than two minutes left in the game, Andrei Svechnikov broke a 1-1 tie, and the Canes never looked back.

Just like that, the Stanley Cup bracket lost two division champs — Vegas and Washington — and welcomed back a pair of contenders that look awfully comfortable playing deep into May.

Carolina’s Calm Crushes Washington

Washington came out in Game 5 with a little extra juice, finally stringing together some clean exits and attacking Carolina’s zone with purpose. For the first nine minutes, they looked like a group that had figured out how to solve the Canes’ relentless forecheck. Then Jordan Staal happened. The veteran center found space at the top of the right circle and ripped one past Logan Thompson’s glove, flipping the mood in Capital One Arena from confident to tense in a heartbeat. Anthony Beauvillier gave the crowd one last chance to cheer with a goal that probably won’t win style points but counted all the same.

After that, Carolina took control the only way they know how: smart, simple, surgical hockey. When Matt Roy thought he’d given the Caps a second-period lead, Brind’Amour’s bench challenged the zone entry — and won. No goal. No momentum swing. Just more suffocating defense. The Canes clogged the neutral zone and turned every attempted Washington rush into a one-and-done or a chip-in with no support.

Andrei Svechnikov, who’s been on a heater all postseason, made the play of the night with just under two minutes left — hugging the goal line and somehow sneaking one in past Thompson for his eighth of the playoffs. It was his third game-winner of the postseason and it broke the deadlock just as it felt like overtime was inevitable.

Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-netter, and all the air had officially left the stadium.

What Made the Hurricanes So Tough to Beat

Carolina didn’t win this series because of some secret formula. They won it because they’ve been here before — seven straight trips to the postseason builds a certain mental toughness that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. They’ve been through blown leads, brutal injuries, and playoff exits that sting for months. That experience paid off big time in this series.

A big part of what makes the Canes so frustrating to play against is how they operate as one connected unit. There’s always a second layer of support. You don’t get many clean looks because there’s always a stick in the lane, a body cutting off a pass, or a backchecker closing down space. Jaccob Slavin was everywhere this series—he made life miserable for Washington’s top line and turned what looked like open ice into dead ends. That’s how you hold a team to under 20 shots a night.

What made Carolina even tougher to beat was the fact that you couldn’t just shut down one or two guys and expect the rest to disappear. Sure, Andrei Svechnikov was on a tear, but it wasn’t just him. Jordan Staal’s line played heavy and responsible, Jack Drury won key faceoffs and chipped in offensively, and even depth guys like Stefan Noesen had moments. In total, 15 different Hurricanes have scored this postseason — and Sebastian Aho hasn’t even really caught fire yet.

And then there’s Freddie Andersen. A year ago, the Canes couldn’t keep a healthy goalie in the lineup. This year, Freddie looks sharp, calm, and dialed in. His .947 save percentage in the series was huge for them. He didn’t face a ton of volume, but when he needed to make a big save — like that pad stop on Dubois in Game 5 — he delivered.

What Went Wrong for Washington

Washington’s second-round exit wasn’t just about running into a buzzsaw — it was about the things that stopped working when the stakes went up. Their offense, which carried them through most of the season, never really got going in this series. Alex Ovechkin managed just one goal, and that came with a 5-on-3 advantage. At even strength, the Capitals looked stuck. They couldn’t get through the neutral zone cleanly, and once they did, they settled for perimeter shots or tossed the puck in deep with no real chase. Against a team like Carolina, which thrives on turning dump-ins into quick exits, that’s a losing formula.

There’s also the issue of fatigue. The Caps sprinted to the Metro Division crown with 51 wins, but they limped into the playoffs with a 4-7-1 skid, and the drop-off was hard to ignore. The urgency wasn’t always matched by execution, and it felt like they were running on fumes by the time they got to Carolina.

Oilers Win Ugly — And That’s Beautiful

Not that long ago, the Oilers were the team everyone accused of playing shinny with no defense — fast, flashy, and fragile. But those days feel like a distant memory in 2025. Wednesday night in Vegas, Edmonton played a gritty, grind-it-out kind of game. No run-and-gun fireworks, just 60 minutes of solid, smart hockey and a whole lot of patience.

When overtime rolled around, it wasn’t McDavid or Draisaitl with the heroics — it was Kasperi Kapanen, the waiver-wire pickup who hadn’t even been in the lineup a few weeks ago. He crashed the net, found a loose puck in a scramble, and buried it at 7:19 of OT to send Vegas home and Edmonton to the Western Conference Final.

Behind him, Stuart Skinner put on a clinic. Just a few weeks ago, he was benched in the first round. Now? He’s riding back-to-back shutouts and hasn’t let in a goal in over two full games — 127 minutes and counting.

He was calm, cool, and in total control, frustrating Vegas with every save. And when the final horn sounded, you could feel it in Rogers Place, even from halfway across the continent — fans have been waiting since 1990 for another Cup run, and this team might just have the goods to deliver it.

How Edmonton Flipped the Script

In Game 5, Connor McDavid didn’t record a shot on goal until the final two minutes of regulation, and that wasn’t a problem. He was locked in on the defensive side all night, backchecking hard, winning puck battles, and doing the little things that don’t show up on highlight reels. Leon Draisaitl was right there with him. Kris Knoblauch’s message — that defense leads to possession — has finally stuck, and the result was a Vegas team that managed just 13 shots through two periods in a do-or-die game.

Up front, Edmonton got goals from everywhere. Sixteen different players have scored for them in these playoffs, and that includes guys like Corey Perry, who’s turned back the clock with five goals, and Kasperi Kapanen, who notched the overtime winner in Game 5. Evander Kane continues to be a wrecking ball in front of the net. Opposing teams can’t just key in on the big names anymore — this group can hurt you from all four lines.

And even when the power play went cold on the road — 0-for-14 in the series — the Oilers didn’t flinch. They committed to even-strength structure, played tight, and leaned on their penalty kill to pick up the slack. That PK was lights-out, shutting down 12 of Vegas’s final 13 chances. For a team that used to live and die by the man advantage, that’s a massive shift. And maybe the clearest sign yet that this Oilers team has finally grown into a complete one.

Vegas Can’t Cash In

Vegas came into this series with a reputation for toughness and timely scoring, but when it mattered most, their biggest names just couldn’t deliver. Jack Eichel put up five assists, but he never found the back of the net — tough optics for your $10-million guy in a series where offense was at a premium.

Mark Stone’s presence was missed in a big way. He battled through an upper-body injury and was ultimately ruled out for Game 5, a crushing blow for a team already struggling to find offensive rhythm.

Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Shea Theodore also came up empty on the score sheet, which left way too much of the burden on William Karlsson to generate chances and carry the offense. And while Karlsson showed up, he needed a lot more help than he got.

What was maybe more surprising was how invisible Vegas was in front of the net. That crease-crashing, rebound-hunting identity they built their 2023 Cup run on just wasn’t there. Edmonton’s blue line isn’t full of household names, but they’re big, they’re mobile, and they did a great job clearing out space. When pucks did squeak through, Stuart Skinner smothered them.

Cup Hangover or Bigger Problem?

No one’s calling the window shut — this franchise has reached at least the second round in seven of eight seasons — but back‑to‑back disappointing exits are jarring for a front office that treats draft picks like poker chips. Injuries (Stone, Brett Pesce) matter, but so did a power play that finished the series in an 0‑for‑6 funk and a blue line that looked older than it is when asked to skate backward in transition.

Vegas isn’t totally out of options, but GM Kelly McCrimmon doesn't have much flexibility unless he trades one of his middle-tier forwards. That means their best shot at staying competitive might come from within — getting Hertl back to full strength, hoping Dorofeyev takes another step, and seeing if 22-year-old prospect Lukas Cagnoni is ready for real NHL minutes.

The Road Gets Real for Edmonton

Dallas currently holds a 3-2 lead in their series, and last season, the Stars gave the Oilers everything they could handle — speed through the neutral zone, forward depth that wore down matchups, and a mobile blue line that gave Edmonton's stars very little space.

That series went the distance, and it forced the Oilers to take a hard look at how they played without the puck. This year, they believe they’re built for that challenge. More defensive buy-in, better depth, and a goaltender in Skinner who’s riding serious momentum. But Dallas isn’t just going to roll over — they’ve got a rested Jake Oettinger in net, and Mikko Rantanen is playing like he owns the playoffs.

Now, if Winnipeg somehow flips the script and comes back to win the series? That’s a whole different beast. The Jets bring a nasty forecheck and an old-school, punishing style that’s designed to wear teams down over seven games. It would be a total contrast in styles, but it would also be a battle of Canadian fanbases hungry for a banner.

Either way, the path ahead for Edmonton is no cakewalk — but they’ve shown they’re not afraid to win ugly if that’s what it takes.

Two Teams, One Common Trend — Relentless Evolution

The Hurricanes and Oilers don’t play the same style, don’t share conference travel nightmares, and don’t even draft from the same prospect pools. They still arrived at the same destination by embracing a simple truth: good teams sharpen edges, great teams sandpaper flaws.

Carolina added grit without losing tempo; Edmonton discovered defense without ditching flair. Neither club is flawless — Carolina’s power play can sputter, Edmonton’s discipline is wobbly at times — but they don't feel the need to be perfect. That confidence, that ability to survive a bad period or an angry road crowd, is exactly what turns Cup dreams into parade routes.