The Washington Capitals were punted out of the playoffs by the New York Islanders in five games. While that was a bummer, there was one benefit to that early exit.

The players were reunited a little sooner with their families.

Lauren Oshie documented her husband TJ reuniting with his three children Lyla, Leni, and Campbell after being away for nearly a month. It’s the best.

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Oshie slept with Lyla and Leni. Later, he was reunited with Campbell, who was born a few months ago.

I’m a fan of Campbell’s reaction of being first picked up by Dad again. He’s very skeptical of this stranger holding him.

Eventually, he warmed up.

TJ initially had a great time in the bubble, playing video games with the boys. But eventually, you could tell if began to wore on the Capitals forward.

“Miss these four more and more every day,” Oshie wrote in a heartfelt note as the Capitals were about to enter the first round of the playoffs. “Can’t wait to for the next time I get to wake up next to @lauren.oshie, have chats about any and everything with Lyla, squeeze my little Len, and take naps with Campbell. Love you, guys!”

Dallas Stars interim coach Rick Bowness recently spoke about how difficult living in the bubble is.

“It’s tough to explain, but don’t think people understand how tough it is living in this bubble,” Bowness said according to the Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks. “The league, give them a lot of credit, they’ve done the best job they can. Everyone is handling as best we can. But it’s tough.

“I can only speak for myself. I’ve gone a couple of days where I haven’t even gone outside. Because the way we’re set up here, the hotel is connected to the rink so you walk from the hotel through the tunnel, get to the rink, then you go back into your room. You’ve really got to make a concerted effort to just get outside and get some fresh air. That applies to every player on every team, so it’s not just us. Everyone is making the best of it that we can, and give everyone a lot of credit. Give the league a lot of credit. They’ve made us all feel safe. We’re secure here. Everyone’s getting tested, everyone’s wearing masks. There’s no issues that you’re worried about there. But that being said, it’s not like we’re walking out to a park. We’re going to a courtyard and there’s three other teams sitting there. You go to the gym and you’re working out with the people that you’re playing against that night. That’s what it is. So everyone deserves a lot of credit for making the best of it. Against, credit to the league. But people think living in a bubble is great. It’s though. It’s mentally tough, and everyone is making the best of it.”

Headline photos courtesy of @lauren.oshie