The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead on the top-seeded team in the conference.

Sean Walker delivered the dagger for the Hurricanes, scoring a key insurance marker with 3:15 remaining, a little more than four minutes after the Capitals made it a one-goal game. It was the first career playoff goal for Walker, who also added an assist in the contest.

Shayne Gostisbehere, Seth Jarvis, and Taylor Hall scored the first three goals for Carolina. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-netter. Frederik Andersen was solid between the pipes with 19 saves on 21 shots.

"If I’m just honest how I feel about it, the first two games might have been better than some of (Games 3 and 4)," Hurricanes bench boss Rod Brind'Amour said, per NHL.com's Kurt Dusterberg. "Just the chances we've given up are a little too much for me.

"But obviously at this time of year it's about results. I like where we're at, that's for sure."

Jakob Chychrun and Alex Ovechkin found twine for the Capitals. It was Ovechkin's 77th career playoff goal, passing Mario Lemieux for sole possession of 12th on the all-time list.

"We're giving ourselves some opportunity," Washington head coach Spencer Carbery said. "We're just not executing, making the play, whatever you want to call it, and making some mistakes, and they're capitalizing."

The Hurricanes are seeking their third Eastern Conference Final appearance in seven years under Brind'Amour.