Capitals panic meter: Can Alex Ovechkin lead Washington to overcome Hurricanes?

Sometimes it's not always a good thing to be dominant during the NHL regular season. Forget the President's Trophy curse, even the best team in another conference can be ousted by a lower seed if the puck isn't bouncing their way.

That seems to be happening to the Washington Capitals, regular season champions of the Eastern Conference in 2024-25. After a back-breaking 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs second round, the Capitals are on the brink of elimination now down 3-1 in the series. The team's panic meter should be set at a sweat-inducing, siren-sounding 8 out of 10 (pun sort of intended).

Team captain Alex Ovechkin scored a power play goal on Monday, his first of the series after going three straight games without a score. But it wasn't enough to spark a comeback for his team as had been the case whenever Washington had trailed this year.

It was his 77th career playoff tally, moving him into sole possession of 12th place on the NHL's all-time playoff goal-scoring list.

Can Alex Ovechkin reignite the Capitals to save them from another early playoff exit?

The series now returns to Washington for Game 5 on Thursday. The Capitals will need all of the 48 hours between now and then to recalibrate and come out swinging like their backs are against the wall.

Ovechkin and his teammates appear to be running out of steam after a goal-filled regular season, in which "The Great Eight" surpassed "The Great One," Wayne Gretzky, for most NHL goals all-time. The 39-year-old's career tally is up to 897 goals, three more than Gretzky finished with in his storied career.

Perhaps finding the back of the net for the first time since April 30 against the Montreal Canadiens, in which he logged four goals in that five-game first round series, will be the spark Ovechkin needs to rally his teammates to three straight wins.

If not, Washington fans will have seen their team exit before the Eastern Conference Final for the sixth time since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2018. Ovechkin has just one more year left on his contract before potentially deciding whether to end his NHL career after 22 seasons. Time is running out to add to the championship section of his legacy.