Washington Capitals

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“We played against a team that proved to be the top team in the league,” Peter Laviolette said. The Capitals lost in the expected goals stat, but narrowly: 12.54 to 13.32. The Capitals also gave up no power-play goals to Florida during the series (0-18). Florida was the only team in the first round not to score a PPG. The puck eventually found its way to Carter Verhaeghe who scored his sixth goal in the first-round series. I think that’s the part that you’ve got to let sit in your stomach for a while.” In 2021, the Capitals again were eliminated in five games, but this time by the Boston Bruins. That year, the Capitals had injury issues to its top stars. Against the Florida Panthers, the Capitals were out-attempted in the series at five-on-five 56 percent to 44 percent, but the Capitals kept most of that offense to the outside. The Capitals managed to take a 2-1 series lead in Game Three, but they could not close it out. “That comes down to finding a way to get the job done. After lifting Lord Stanley’s chalice, the Capitals were unable to repeat as champions in 2019, losing in seven games to the forecheck-you-to-death Carolina Hurricanes. In the 2020 Bubble Loffs, which was a very weird time in our world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Capitals ran into former head coach Barry Trotz and never seemed to find their game, losing in five games. The Capitals played physical against the Panthers and committed to a suffocating defensive game. “The last three games have been in our hands,” TJ Oshie added. The Washington Capitals were maddeningly inconsistent and had mediocre goaltending during the regular season while the Panthers set a salary cap record for most goals in a season (340) and won the Presidents’ Trophy. The two teams’ first-round series didn’t seem likely to be competitive.

When the Washington Capitals look back at what went wrong during their first-round postseason series against the Florida Panthers, the errors should be ...

“We all understand when we get the lead, we don’t have to give them empty spots, give them the chance,” captain Alex Ovechkin said. “In the playoffs, the margin of error is so small. The Capitals had a shot to take Game 5, too. One bad bounce or one misread can change the whole momentum of a game.” Defenseman John Carlson, who had a lackluster postseason riddled with individual mistakes, echoed Ovechkin’s thoughts, noting that Washington was better at closing out games in the regular season. But then the Capitals crumbled again. “Especially when they put the puck deep, we have to play much harder in the [defensive zone]. Again, mistakes from everybody. That comes down to us just finding a way to get the job done.” Each time, the Panthers stormed back as the Capitals wilted. Would the Capitals’ season still be alive? After the puck missed the mark, Panthers forward Sam Reinhart found the late equalizer in regulation. Washington’s Game 4 overtime loss — in which forward Garnet Hathaway barely missed what would have been a clinching empty-net goal — was particularly deflating.

The Washington Capitals were eliminated in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth year in a row, and now they have some quetions.

But it is not yet a cliff dive and it is clear this team can still be a playoff team, and a pretty good one. When healthy I still think he can be a really good player here and one that will ultimately be worth his cap number (and the price they paid to trade him). Eller is intriguing because his cap number is fair, he can still play his role pretty well, and the Capitals could use an extra $3 million to play with. There is also the fact Connor McMichael needs a bigger role and still only costs $863,000 against the cap for the next two seasons. Marc-Andre Fleury is also set to be available, but him playing in Washington does not seem to be in the cards. The Capitals have been near the top of the NHL for a decade-and-a-half and been one of the league’s elite teams. The Capitals did not get run out of the building by the Presidents’ Trophy winning Panthers, and it was certainly not the one-sided mismatch many expected it to be at the start. They may have been the eighth playoff team in the East, but they still finished with 100 points in a very tough division. They were one of just three teams to finish below 18th in all situations save percentage to actually make the playoffs (Los Angeles at 19th, Toronto at 22nd, and the Capitals at 23rd), while no playoff team was lower than them. There are a lot of flaws there, but the results were still pretty good. Or that a “prove it” contract will result in a different outcome? But it might be the quickest fix.