Capitals lament ‘crazy year’ as playoff streak comes to an end
For the first time in nine years, the Capitals played a game without any playoff implications on the line.
Washington was officially eliminated from Wild Card contention Tuesday on a win by the Florida Panthers, knocking them out of the race with five games left on the regular-season schedule. It snapped a streak of eight consecutive seasons making the Stanley Cup playoffs, which was tied with the Nashville Predators for the second-longest active streak in the NHL.
So when the Capitals took the ice for Thursday’s 6-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, many players found themselves in an unfamiliar position. The last time the Capitals had played a game without the possibility of making the playoffs was April 13, 2014, after they were eliminated with three games to go.
Right wing Tom Wilson was a rookie that year. Now, he’s wrapping up his 10th NHL season.
“It’s been a pretty crazy year for everyone,” Wilson said at practice Tuesday, hours before the Panthers ended their playoff hopes. “It hasn’t just been me…six to seven big pieces have been coming in and coming out.
“Any piece that you’re missing, we are constantly shuffling. I don’t know how much consistency we had at all the entire year with lineups and stuff. I don’t think [it was] very consistent and that’s tough. It definitely adds into it but, obviously, I would’ve liked to — everyone would’ve liked to play better. We’re not where we want to be.”
The Capitals, who entered the year as the second-oldest team in the NHL by average age, saw several key contributors miss significant portions of the season with injuries.
Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom both sat out their first 42 games rehabbing from major offseason surgeries. John Carlson went on Injured Reserve twice including a three-month absence due to a small skull fracture and severed temporal artery he suffered in late December. T.J. Oshie has been in and out of the lineup all year. Offseason trade acquisition Connor Brown tore his ACL four games into the season.
The result has been a mixed bag filled with some quick bursts of success sprinkled between largely frustrating stretches of play. The Capitals looked like a potential threat in the Eastern Conference in December when they went 11-2-2 as Alex Ovechkin continued to score goals at his prolific pace. Yet, in only one other calendar month this season have they even posted a winning record.
“Why you play hockey is because you want to be in the playoffs,” Backstrom said. “That’s what you live for. You wanna win. Everyone around this area knows how special that was when we won. That feeling, that’s why you want to get back in there. At the same time, you just gotta realize that we just gotta regroup and we gotta learn from it and we gotta come back better.”
Rather than fighting for a playoff spot over this final week of the season, the Capitals instead are facing lottery odds. With a loaded NHL Draft class highlighted by Canadian phenom Connor Bedard, they will have a chance to select a franchise-changing talent should the ping-pong balls bounce their way.
After losing in regulation Thursday to remain at 77 points on the season, the Capitals own the ninth-best odds for the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks at 5% and 5.4%, respectively. Depending on how the next few games go, they could leapfrog the Vancouver Canucks for the eighth spot.
Not that anyone in the Capitals’ locker room is thinking about the lottery. After the front office signaled its belief in the core by handing out multi-year extensions for Dylan Strome, Sonny Milano, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Nick Jensen while acquiring Rasmus Sandin (restricted free agent in 2024) at the trade deadline, the Capitals have a lot of faith that they can bounce back next season.
