The Washington Capitals...a Review

There is no disputing the fact that the Washington Capitals have a bright future, with all their youngsters, who will only get better and learn from what happened in this year’s playoffs.

After finishing second in the Eastern Conference with 108 points, Washington, who have a young nucleus of stars in Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, and goalie Simeon Varlamov, had trouble switching to that higher gear when playoff time rolled around.

In the opening round against the much inferior New York Rangers, the Capitals quickly fell behind 3-1, before they managed out of desperation to avoid elimination three times in winning the series.

Things started off well in the second round as Washington jumped out to a 2-0 series lead against their No. 1 rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. However after dropping game three, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau commented that his players were “playing not to lose rather than to win.”

Including game three, the Penguins went on to win four of the next five games. Included in those games were a one sided 6-2 Penguins win on Wednesday night, in what was game seven.

“It seemed like everybody had heavy legs,” Capitals defenseman Brian Pothier said. “We weren’t jumping. We weren’t exploding on pucks. Every time we made a pass, it was either off or blew up every time got to its destination. Our coaching staff prepared us and we knew the importance of the game. It’s a game seven against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the playoffs. I think maybe that factored into it that we were maybe a little tight.”

After missing the playoffs for several years, the Capitals made it back last year where they lost in the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers. This year, they went one step further and with the experience of their run this spring are expecting to go further next year.

“We are very close to being a very good team,” said Boudreau. “Maybe all it is a little bit more maturity in some areas, and we will be able to make that step. I would believe next year, if you were asking me right now, we’d be very disappointed if we weren’t in the final four.”

What the Capitals might need is more veteran leadership. They have a great one in 39-year-old Sergei Fedorov, who is no stranger to winning. But they might want to think about acquiring a couple more vets to mesh with all the young talent.