In Washington, DC, Braden Holtby made 30 saves to help the Capitals shut out the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-0, in Game 5 on Saturday.
This one seemed easy. And that clicking noise you heard resonating across North Carolina was television sets moving over to the Cartoon Network. 
Nicklas Backstrom keyed the Caps’ offense with two goals and four points on the night.
“Obviously, I thought that was a pretty great response (after losing Games 3 and 4),” Backstrom said. “We weren’t satisfied with the games in Carolina. Tonight, we played some Caps hockey, I thought. Everyone bought in to everything, we worked together, and it paid off.”
Three of the six Caps goals were off the power play.
“We were bad from start to finish really,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s tough to pick out a guy I thought had a good game. This time of year, you need everyone on board and for some reason, we were all just a step behind. The score’s indicative of the game.”
Alex Ovechkin, Brett Connolly, Tom Wilson, and Nic Dowd also scored for the Caps.
“We just want to set the tone right away, put the puck deep, hit their [defensemen] and leave the mark,” Ovechkin said.
The Canes had an opportunity to get back in the game with three straight power plays in the middle frame, but managed just four shots on the trio.
“Obviously, power play wasn’t good enough tonight and that’s kind of what hurt us in the second,” the Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin said. “We had a lot of chances to even up the game and get the momentum going our way, but we didn’t do that tonight.”
Game 6 is set for Monday night in Raleigh.
[WATCH: Hurricanes vs. Capitals Game 5 highlights | Complete series coverage]
Petr Mrazek made 22 saves in the loss.
“Park it. It stunk,” the Canes’ Justin Williams said. “There’s ups and downs, a lot of momentum swings in playoff series, and we’ve got to swing it back in our direction in Game 6.”
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