Washington Capitals: Whole Lot of Shakeup Coming on

The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, is a prophet with his song.  The unflattering playoff exit of the Washington Capitals should mean a whole lot of changes to come.

Ever since they burst into prominence on the NHL playoff scene four years ago, the Capitals have only managed to prove one thing: They can beat a mediocre New York Rangers team and nobody else.

The most damaging exit was last year when they lost in seven games to a vastly inferior Montreal Canadiens team in the first round.

This year, after eliminating the mediocre Rangers, they showed how far they really are from the Stanley Cup by being easily swept out of the playoffs in the minimum four games by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

There will be a temptation to heap all the blame for the defeat on coach Bruce Boudreau, but he has the exact same playoff record as his predecessor: one win over New York and two other playoff round defeats.

So the problem is not the coach, but the character and chemistry of this team.

Ironically, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who got rid of the Capitals this time, played the way everybody imagined the Capitals would and should play during the playoffs.

They have great goaltending.

They have stars who play like stars.

They have competent special teams.

They don't panic or give up when they fall behind.

Everybody plays good defense.

They got major contributions from the rest of the team.

The Lightning are everything the Capitals are supposed to be. Let's see where the Capitals fail.

Washington's goaltending has never been a strength of the team.  Does anybody remember the names of Washington's goaltenders?

Alexander Ovechkin makes sporadic appearances.  He'll contribute occasionally, then disappear for long stretches.

He's not the star who can carry a team by himself on his back.  He's not the baseball pitcher who starts the playoffs by saying, "Give me the ball."

Ovechkin was also a prominent member of last year's Olympic team which played possibly the worst game a Russian team has ever played against Canada since they started to play against NHL professionals in 1972.

His star has been waning since his playoff debut, when he used to vie with Sydney Crosby for best player in the NHL.  One wonders if he's even the best Russian any more.

Ovechkin is joined by Niklas Backstrom who had a grand total of 0 goals, 2 points, and a -1 rating.

The highest rating was playoff veteran Jason Arnott's 4; he wasn't with the team long enough to catch its annual playoff swoon.  It goes downhill from there.

Tampa managed to score several power-play goals.  That means the Capitals got bad penalty killing and their own power play couldn't match the Lightning.

Washington never won a game against the Lightning.  That means they never were able to hold a lead or come from behind.

As noted above, the highest rated Capital player was +4.  Obviously, team defense is not a strong point.

The Lightning got big performances from lesser lights like Steve Downie, Dominic Moore and Marc-Andre Bergeron. 

Who stepped up for the Capitals when their stars were struggling?

In other words, the Washington Capitals, in any game of this series, never got anything a Stanley Cup champion is supposed to have.

And if they are deficient in every area that is needed to win the Stanley Cup, there is only one solution.

It's shakeup time.