On the evening of May 10, 2016, the Washington Capitals were eliminated in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Pittsburgh Penguins. They join the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and New York Islanders.
They are survived by Cody Eakin of the Dallas Stars; Mike Ribeiro of the Nashville Predators; Eric Fehr of the Pittsburgh Penguins; Troy Brouwer of the St. Louis Blues; and Joel Ward and Dainius Zubrus of the San Jose Sharks. It is officially time to break out those throw-back sweaters. In fact, the Eakin and Brouwer sweaters will be useful Wednesday, and the Ribeiro, Ward, and Zubrus sweaters will be a must for #ThrowbackThursday.
The Capitals were a favorite to win the Stanley Cup since they dominated the league during the regular season, but they fell victim to the evil curse of the Presidents’ Trophy. Legend has it that teams who win the Presidents’ Trophy are doomed to fail in the playoffs and never capture Lord Stanley’s Cup. Although the Blackhawks did it in 2013, it was a shortened season. The last time a team did it in a full regular season was the 2007-08 Red Wings. Actually, eight teams who won the Presidents’ Trophy have won the Stanley Cup, but it is way more fun if we all believe that there is an ancient curse. What is the consequence of this curse? Well, the Capitals choked up a penguin.
I don’t watch hockey a lot but every time I watch it, it’s usually the Caps choking in the playoffs
— JR (@JohnReynolds_8) May 11, 2016
The Caps did survive the first round against the Flyers, though they were a team that miraculously secured the second wild-card spot in the penultimate game of their season partly because they beat the Penguins and also because the Boston Bruins lost their game. The Caps finished the Flyers in six games.
Highlights in that round include shutouts in Games 1 and 6. Marcus Johansson had a point in every game except Games 4 and 5. He tallied one goal and five assists. John Carlson had three goals and three assists in the first three games of the series. In fact, he had a three-point game in Game 3. In the same game, the Caps set a franchise record of scoring five power play goals. It was also in Game 3 that the team made a franchise first of going up 3-0 in a series. The last seven times they were up 2-0, they lost Game 3.
Goaltender Braden Holtby shone brightly in this series. He had two shut outs, a .840 GAA, a .968 save percentage, and Game 6 marked his 20th career playoff win, which tied Olaf Kolzig for most postseason wins in franchise history.
Then the Caps faced the Pens for the second round, and this is when it all seemed to unravel. This marked the ninth time that these two teams faced each other in the playoffs since 1991. The Penguins have now won eight of those match-ups. The last time these two teams met was in 2009, and the Pens went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Caps have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 1998 when they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Some people take off the cap, but the pen is important. #Caps #Pens #BecauseItsTheCup #StanleyCup
— Jenny Hockey (@SportingAJenda) May 3, 2016
The series did remain close with only one two-goal game while the rest were one-goal games. One of the low points of the series were the suspensions. Brooks Orpik received a three-game suspension for his hit on Olli Maatta, and Kris Letang got a one-game suspension for his hit on Johansson. These were the biggest suspensions of the postseason so far, and many analysts and fans weighed in.
Some fans may point the finger at the captain Alex Ovechkin. In this series, he averaged over a point per game. He had two goals and five assists. He did not score in Game 4 but had two assists in the series-ending Game 6. However, he did fail to drive the team to develop a killer instinct. At times, he looked defeated and without direction. He resorted to hitting instead of focusing on helping his team make the plays to get back into a game or win one.
As promised @MikeZimmersEars pic.twitter.com/DRfcJsd4WE
— Kristi Loucks (@LoucksKE) May 11, 2016
One player who did seem to disappear in the playoffs was Evgeny Kuznetsov. He only had two points throughout twelve games in two series. He had no goals in the last 20 games of the regular season as well.
The highlight for the Capitals during their series with the Penguins was John Carlson, who perhaps did not receive adequate attention. He tallied a point per game with two goals and four assists. The defenseman matched Ovechkin in points, goals, and assists.
With the two wins against the Penguins, Holtby improves to a career 22 playoff wins. He now holds the franchise record for most wins by a goaltender. He surpassed Kolzig, mentioned earlier.
Fans are encouraged to express their condolences and final personal statements below or in the AOSN Forum.
