Ovechkin’s secret pain hurt iced Caps
Kadri hit aftershocks play role in early exit … but it runs deeper
The Washington Capitals lost again, because that’s what the Washington Capitals do. That sounds too simple, right? It is too simple. But they have lost in the first or second round in nine of the last 10 seasons, and the other one they missed the playoffs entirely. They lost as the Presidents’ Trophy winner in 2010; they did it last year; they did it this year. This is what they do.
“I expect the same questions over and over again when you lose,” said centre Nicklas Backstrom, before a Washington TV reporter saw him leaving the arena hugging his father, in tears. They had lost again, of course, to a Pittsburgh Penguins team missing its top defenceman, starting its backup goalie. Same old song; call it Washington In The Spring.
And on the next day it was revealed that Alexander Ovechkin was playing with a lower-body injury bad enough that he will miss the world championship, and he never misses the worlds. The assumption was that it was the result of the Nazem Kadri hit in Game 5 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs; it would explain Ovechkin’s demotion to the third line late in the Pittsburgh series, and the fact that he played the seventh-most minutes at even strength among Washington for- wards in Game 7. Asked about Ovechkin Wednesday night, Capitals coach Barry Trotz gave an answer that makes more sense now.
“Emotionally right now, I don’t want to answer that question,” said Trotz. “We win and lose as a team. That’s my best answer right now. Emotionally, I don’t think I want to answer that question.”
But every year, Washington has to answer questions.
This loss was as bad as any of them: at least in 2010 they never stopped dominating the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens, and just ran into a goalie who wouldn’t let them win.
This time they talked out their issues during the season, talked them out in the playoffs, hammered the Penguins for six games, and all they needed was to do it for one more game, one more period, to give themselves a chance. They had shown the ability to raise their game in this post-season: against Toronto when it mattered, against Pittsburgh down 3-1. They talked about it before Game 7.
They really thought they had it figured out.
“We need to just continue to play the way that we know we play well, and that’s by staying loose and not worrying about it,” said defenceman Karl Alzner, who has been a Capital for the entire ride and is now a smaller part of a team that he still understands. “Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, and we’re OK. We can handle either consequence. But we’d rather play the way we know that we can succeed, and then see the outcome after that.”
Except they didn’t. In the biggest period in franchise history, the Capitals managed five shots on goal. At five-on-five, they were outshot 8-3. In the NHL, almost every team can summon the desperation and structure for a push.
Washington couldn’t. They thought they knew how to play, and then they fell apart. What does that say? What went wrong? That’s not just Ovechkin; that’s not just Marcus Johansson’s broken finger. That’s a team, in the biggest moment of its life, unable to play anything resembling its best hockey.
“I felt like us digging ourselves out of that hole really brought us together and I think brought the best out of us,” said winger T.J. Oshie. “Until tonight. I think tonight, just, we didn’t find a way to play our best game.”
The question, at some point, becomes one of belief. Ovechkin is 31 and he can still wire shots from the slot as well as anybody on earth, and will probably be able to do it for as long as he lives. Backstrom remains a delight, slick-passing and smart. The team’s luxuries are free agents: Mr. Game 7, Justin Williams; Oshie; defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk, the prize acquisition of a dull trade deadline. Their best young talent — Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, Dmitry Orlov, Nate Schmidt — are restricted free agents, and will get raises.
Look, the Capitals can keep trying. San Jose did, after years of disappointment, and made a Cup final. Ovechkin is almost 32 and may not be a top-20 forward anymore, but they can still be good, if the organization wants to try.
But how do they continue to believe they can do it? Shattenkirk talked openly about his new teammates, and what had happened. He said, “For players, we carry a lot of our pasts with us, for sure. It can be hard to overcome those past experiences. But every year we get a new opportunity to change that. All it takes is one year. I think that’s the most important thing. That’s the message I try to convey to these guys is that, who cares? If it happens this year, no one is going to remember the years previous.”
He also said, before Game 7, “More than anything, we kind of threw the fear out the window. Once you get backed up into a corner like that when it’s a do-or-die situation, you have to put that fear aside. You have to say screw it, and let’s go play hockey.” And when the moment came, they didn’t.