There’s an old saying you can achieve victory from the jaws of defeat but for the Washington Capitals it was defeat from the jaws of victory three straight times. An empty net miss, a three goal lead, and a ping off the post. It was those three things that did the Capitals in as they fell in the first round for the fourth year in a row but this time in six games with a 4-3 overtime loss.
The first period was scoreless but the Caps came out physical just like they did in 2018 against the Tampa Bay Lightning when they were facing elimination. They had a total of 16 hits in the opening 20 minutes including some fun ones from Alex Ovechkin. They outshot the Panthers 13-8.
At 3:44 the Caps struck first as Nic Dowd tucked one right in front of the net following his own rebound. Garnet Hathaway and Johan Larsson had the helpers. Ryan Lomberg would tie it at 6:13 to make it 1-1 after 40. The Panthers led in shots 14-9 in the second period.
The Caps took the lead at 1:37 on a deflection goal by Nicklas Backstrom off a shot from Justin Schultz. Trevor van Riemsdyk had the secondary assist. It was Backstrom’s second of the playoffs.
At 8:18 Claude Giroux tied it and at 14:17 Aleksander Barkov gave them the lead. The mood at Capital One Arena then went to nerves. They played “Unleash the Fury” on the video board and fans shouted it and waved their towels bearing that statement hoping to give the Caps a jolt. They got it once they got a power play chance and then pulling Ilya Samsonov for the empty net.
Gustav Forsling was called for tripping Backstrom putting the Caps on the advantage. Evgeny Kuznetsov shot the puck. Anthony Mantha then made a nice play off the rebound in the middle of chaos in front of the net. T.J. Oshie was on the other end of the goal to bang it in for his sixth of the playoffs to tie it with 1:03 left.
Overtime on Friday the 13th. What could possibly go wrong?
The puck casually rolled down the ice. Martin Fehervary tried to work it to John Carlson but Carlson couldn’t grab the puck and the Caps met their doom. Carter Verhaeghe scored at 2:46 to end the Capitals season early once again.
Backstrom put it simple after the game:
"“We basically gave the series to them.”"
He’s right. The Caps had every opportunity to win Game 4 but Garnet Hathaway missed the empty net. They had every opportunity to win Game 5 but they squandered a 3-0 lead against the most dangerous offensive team.
Even though this was a series the Caps fell short in, this isn’t a playoff exit to hang your heads over. This team gave it their all. They gave it their best shot. They just didn’t get the bounces this time and that’s what it comes down to in the playoffs. The 2018 while close did get those said bounces.
Now the Caps enter another summer with questions. How much more open is the window for the core? How do they get younger if possible?