The Capitals better start finishing their scoring chances the way they did during the regular season if they plan to push this series against the Hurricanes beyond Game 5 at Capital One Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

The Washington Capitals are far from being in all-out crisis, but hopes for their season definitely don’t look good. After a staggering 4-0 loss in Raleigh on Saturday it’s become apparent that whatever strategy this team brought into the series simply isn’t working.

The Hurricanes will go to Washington for Game 5 on Thursday with a chance to close out the second-round Stanley Cup playoff series, but expect to see Capitals’ best.

The Carolina Hurricanes twice found their two-goal margin halved in the third period of their latest playoff game with the Washington Capitals. Each time they found a prompt response. Taylor Hall scored on a breakaway chance roughly three minutes after the Washington Capitals scored their first goal,

For part of Monday night, the Washington Capitals stunk. For other parts, they tried desperately to remain with the Carolina Hurricanes — and just about did. But think about that for a second. It feels as if the Capitals are merely trying to hold on to this second-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the tips of their fingernails as the Hurricanes rip it away from them.

The Washington Capitals appear to be making some tweaks to the lineup as they try to even the series against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 on Monday, and it looks like Ryan Leonard will be back in the mix.