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The Wraparound: Hurricanes keep believing as they eye series lead vs. Caps

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Warren Foegele scores for the second straight game and Petr Mrazek saves 30 shots for the Hurricanes in a home win against the Capitals as Carolina locks up the series at 2-2.

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down each day’s matchups with the all-important television and live streaming information included.

Winning breeds confidence and the Carolina Hurricanes’ success this season has continued into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As they seek to take a 3-2 series lead on Washington Capitals Saturday night (8 p.m. ET; NBC; Live stream), they’ve envisioned this possibility since earlier this season as the chemistry in the dressing room and on the ice developed.

“There’s always been a belief with our group from day one that we could be in this situation. If the fans and the people are starting to believe, that’s great,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “The most important thing is the guys believe.”

That belief was reinvigorated after their 2-1 win in Game 4. The Hurricanes had lost six straight to the Capitals before taking both games at PNC Arena. Now heading back to D.C., it’s a best-of-three series now and both teams will be missing key pieces with Andrei Svechnikov and T.J. Oshie out.

“We’ve always believed [we could win], right?” said Hurricanes captain Justin Williams. “We had lost six straight games to them after Game 2, close ones albeit, but lost them. So winning that one in Game 3 was big, this one is big, and they just keep getting bigger.”

Carolina knows that winning two in a row won’t cause the defending Stanley Cup champions to panic. They realize they need to continue their dominant possession play and timely scoring to keep the momentum going as they hit the road.

“A team that’s that experienced, I don’t think they get frustrated,” said Brind’Amour. “You might a little bit, but I don’t think they’re sweating it too much.” [NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Game 5: Stars at Predators, 3 p.m. ET (Series tied 2-2): The Stars exploded in Game 4 scoring five times, chasing Pekka Rinne and winning the only game in the series that wasn’t decided by a single goal. After scoring on their first two shots of the game, Dallas kept the pressure on and quickly built up a 4-0 lead with three of them coming via the power play. “It hurt us, so discipline is definitely something that is on the plate,” said Predators head coach Peter Laviolette. “We’ve got to play a cleaner game.” (NBC, Live stream)

Game 6: Jets at Blues, 7 p.m. ET (Blues lead 3-2): If this series tells us anything, the Jets should have a grand old time seeing as how the home team has been unable to win in their own building through five games. Jaden Schwartz broke some hearts on Thursday night and put the Blues on the verge of advancing to Round 2. “We’ve been down before and I’m sure the guys will come back, regroup tomorrow, watch some film and get ready for Game 6,” said Jets forward Kevin Hayes. “We have to stay positive in this room.” (NBCSN, Live stream)

PHT’s 2019 Stanley Cup playoff previews Capitals vs Hurricanes Bruins vs. Maple Leafs

Predators vs. Stars Blues vs. Jets Sharks vs. Golden Knights

Power Rankings: Why your team won’t win the Stanley Cup NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 1 schedule, TV info

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.