Carolina Hurricanes vs Washington Capitals: Game 2 preview, prediction, and odds | Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2, May 8, 2025

The Carolina Hurricanes are on the road to play the Washington Capitals on Thursday, May 8, in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series at 7 p.m. ET.

Carolina won Game 1 by a score of 2-1 in OT.

Hurricanes vs Capitals: Head-to-head & key stats

Carolina went 2-1-1 against Washington this season, and is now 1-0 in the playoffs
The Hurricanes averaged 3.2 goals per game
Washington went 26-9-6 at home
Carolina allowed 2.8 goals per game
The Capitals averaged 3.49 goals per game
The Hurricanes 16-21-4 on the road
Washington allowed 2.79 goals per game

Carolina Hurricanes vs Washington Capitals: Preview

Carolina is coming off a 2-1 OT win over Washington on the road to take Game 1. The Hurricanes were led by Logan Stankoven, who scored the tying goal, and Jaccob Slavin scored the OT winner.

The Hurricanes will start Frederik Andersen, who started Game 1 after returning from an injury. went 13-8-1 with a 2.50 GAA and a .899 SV%. In his career against Washington, he's 10-4-3 with a 2.58 GAA and a .912 SV%. In the playoffs, he's 4-1 with a 1.45 GAA and a .935 SV%.

Washington, meanwhile, lost Game 1 and control of home ice in the series. The Capitals will start Logan Thompson, who went 31-6-6 with a 2.49 GAA and a .910 SV%. In his career against Carolina, he's 0-2 with an 8.34 GAA and a .780 SV%. In the playoffs, he's 4-2 with a 2.17 GAA and a .926 SV%.

In Game 1, the Capitals' lone goal came from Aliaksei Protas while John Carlson and Brandon Duhaime had the assists.

Hurricanes vs Capitals: Odds & Prediction

Carolina is a -175 favorite while Washington is a +145 underdog, while the over/under is set at 5.5 goals.

The Hurricanes dominated Game 1 but had trouble scoring until the end. Carolina appeared to be the much better team offensively and defensively as Washington had a hard time getting their offense going.

Look for the Hurricanes to continue their success and be able to score more here as Carolina will take a 2-0 series lead.

Prediction: Hurricanes 3, Capitals 1.

Hurricanes vs Capitals: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Carolina ML (-175)

Tip 2: Under 5.5 goals (-102)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton