Washington Capitals: Top Five Caps In Round One

The Washington Capitals closed out their first round series with the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Who were their top players?

It took six games, but the Washington Capitals dispatched the Philadelphia Flyers from the playoffs on Sunday in a 1-0 victory, setting up a meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round Two that has a pretty good chance of going the distance.

Though the Flyers stole two games in this series largely on the back of some incredibly hot goaltending, it is debatable whether or not this series was ever truly in doubt. Sure, fans who have seen the Washington Capitals fail to get the job done in the playoffs year after year were in sheer panic mode, but the team asserted repeatedly that those failures were in the past.

Other than Games Two and Three, it was a relatively low scoring series. In a battle like that, you will often have some under the radar contributors that attain hero status. For the Capitals, many of their biggest stars rose to the occasion against the Flyers and made the biggest difference.

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Without further ado, let’s take some time to rank the top five players for the Washington Capitals in the series and analyze their impact on the team’s performance.

#5 – Jay Beagle

This was an extremely tough call. I think Marcus Johansson deserves this spot as well, but I’m going to go with the underdog.

Jay Beagle has always been praised as one of the hardest working players on the Washington Capitals. This doesn’t always translate on the score sheet, but we got a little bit of both worlds from Beags in this series.

He scored the insurance goal in a 2-0 win in Game One, and added a power play goal at the tail end of a 6-1 rout in Philadelphia in Game Three. There wasn’t too much scoring going on in much of this series, so his two goals were pretty big contributions in that regard.

However, Beagle’s biggest contributions came in the small ways, as usual. More than a handful of times in this series, Beagle was forcing turnovers on the forecheck or ending an offensive threat with great defensive in his own zone. This was on display at the end of Game Six, as Beagle hounded desperate Flyers for the puck as they tried to extend the series.

Beagle-type players are the ones who often become cult figures on deep postseason runs. He got off to a good start in Round One.

#4 – John Carlson

#3 – Nicklas Backstrom

The super Swede Nicklas Backstrom had himself quite a series as well. He had a team high seven points in the series, contributing two goals and five assists.

His most important goal came in the series-clinching Game Six victory on Sunday. After being completely bricked by former Capital Michal Neuvirth for almost three games, the Washington Capitals had all of the pressure in the world lifted off their shoulders when Backstrom roofed a one-timer past Neuvirth midway through the second frame.

Though the Caps power play slowed down from their torrid pace to start the series, Backstrom was arguably the key piece on the unit for much of its success. While the Flyers sat back and waited to be dissected, Backstrom did just that. Eventually, they caught on, but by then it was too late.

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Backstrom has always been a quiet contributor for the Washington Capitals, even in the postseason. The further into the playoffs the Capitals get, the more noticeable Backstrom’s major contributions will be.

#2 – Alex Ovechkin

One of the greatest players in league history is often unfairly blamed for his team’s playoffs defeats. Right now, The Great Eight is leading by example.

With three goals and two assists in the series, his scoresheet looked good. However, one play in particular in their Game Six victory stood out to me.

On Nicklas Backstrom’s series-clinching goal, Alex Ovechkin entered the offensive zone with the puck. He was checked at the blue line and the puck got away from him slightly. In a display of his superior strength and athleticism, he didn’t give up on the play. He battled for the puck, fed an open Marcus Johansson who then set Backstrom’s one-timer up.

Plays like this from the captain made a huge difference in this series. Some players would give up on that puck, but Ovechkin kept battling and it led to a goal. He is doing many of the little things well so far in this postseason.

#1 – Braden Holtby

This is a given. In six games, the Washington Capitals allowed just six goals with a goalie in the net (Philadelphia added an empty-netter at the end of Game Five). Braden Holtby was absolutely outstanding in Game Two while under a barrage of more than 40 shots.

The rest of the series, it seemed as if Holtby was just quietly going about his business – and he was. In the losses in Games Four and Five, he was still very impressive. Going six games in the playoffs without allowing more than two goals is incredibly rare.

Any concerns that were raised about Holtby’s play down the stretch in the regular season should have been completely eradicated with this series. His 0.84 goals allowed average and .968 save percentage were both superhuman statistics. He continues to be the epitome of a playoff performer night in and night out.

When he faces the high octane attack from Pittsburgh in Round Two, he will have to be at his best once again.

Next: Washington Capitals Eliminate Flyers With 1-0 Victory

The Washington Capitals are now one step closer to their goal. They will continue to need major contributions from those players on this list, while hoping that some players who didn’t have the best series can step their game up.