The Washing Capitals Fall To The Lightning, How Did It Go So Wrong So Fast?

Added on May 05, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Leading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, many picked the Capitals to go all the way and win the cup. On the other side of the coin, some said there are too many questions on how Washington will play in the post season, and they would fall to the Rangers. When Alex Ovechkin and the Caps dismantled the Rangers in 5 games a lot of analysts felt they answered the critics and this year was different. 4 games versus the Tampa Bay Lightning later, the Capitals are now dealing with the same questions again, and are now left to wonder how it all fell apart so fast.

Captain Alex Ovechkin, who was still optimistic about the Capitals chances even after being dealt 3 losses in 5 days, said they really felt like they would win the whole series. Coach Bruce Boudreau echoed similar feelings later in the press conference, but Ovechkin said it just felt like their year. He said “We were hungry. We just didn’t win. We want to win. They want to win. Somebody has to lose. We are losing and I don’t know what to say right now.”

Boudreau was proud of his players, and he says the most important thing to watch for is if a team ever gives up, and his team never did. Boudreau said “There’s not really much to say after the game. The players are down in the dumps, I’m down in the dumps. I just told them I was proud of them for the way they worked all year and that they never quit right until the end. That’s all a coach can ask – you don’t quit and you just keep plugging through. We thought we had a good chance to win, and we just didn’t get it done.”

Boudreau also talked about how it is difficult to win hockey games when your best players aren’t stepping up and scoring. Capitals fans were expecting a much bigger presence by Ovechkin, and other Capitals, and were hoping other team members would step up. Yes, some of players did step up to come to the aid of the team, but the leaders on the team never seemed to find their stride. Boudreau was careful to note that he wasn’t coming down on his players, and he strongly felt that they were competing up to the final seconds of their season. To Boudreau, thats all you can ask for. He said “But our players tried, and I’ll say it and again and reiterate it – they didn’t leave anything on the table, right to the last three seconds when the puck went behind the net. They were still going after it. I have nothing but good things to say for the effort they gave me throughout the course of the year.”

Alternate Captain Mike Knuble said that they weren’t surprised by anything Tampa bay did, as they played virtually the same all year. Coming into the playoffs Knuble said they really felt comfortable, and felt like they were able to beat everyone they might be playing. Knuble said “I think we liked our spot coming in. We felt confident starting at home and knew our opponent well. They didn’t pull anything, pull any punches with us. They didn’t surprise us. They played their game exactly the way they had all year and they did it well. What can you say?”

Knuble didn’t want to take anything away from the performance of the Lightning either, and made sure to note how much better the Lightning did everything. He said “Some of their players, I don’t know if we were beaten by St. Louis and Lecavalier so much. Some of their role players were out of their minds and you have to give those guys a lot of credit. Any chance they had was in the back of our net. That’s tough to stomach right now.”

Many players, and even some coaches, are expecting some changes to the Capitals, and after 4 seasons of not being able to close the deal in the playoffs, some think the changes might start with Boudreau. Even Knuble has said since the game, “Of course you can expect changes,” but no one knows where they will start or end. With Ovechkin set to Captain the team for the next ten years we can assume it won’t start there, but it will be interesting to see what happens to the coaching staff this off season.

In closing Boudreau said it always felt right, and that even when things were at their darkest-the team really felt like they were still going to bring it all home. Boudreau concluded “Quite frankly, I thought that from Day One this was our year, I knew it was a tough year because we went through peaks and valleys. I just thought if we persevered that something good was gonna happen, and I thought that as late as when they made it 5-2 I thought, ‘OK, this is gonna be tough.’ Even before that, I thought, ‘OK, we’re gonna find away. The guys want it too much, and they’ve come back all year in dire straits and I still thought we were gonna tie it up and win it in overtime.”