The Washington Capitals are playoff-bound. The Caps secured a berth in the 2024 NHL postseason with a 2-1 regulation victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored the Capitals’ lone goal that actually had to beat a goaltender to go in the net. The Caps captain will now play playoff hockey for the 15th time in his 19-season career. His next playoff goal will tie him for 13th all-time in postseason tallies (73).
After starting this season with just eight goals through his first 43 games, the Great Eight wrapped up his regular season with 23 in his last 36 games to record his NHL record 18th, 30-goal campaign. Ovechkin’s resurgence matched his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“I think the whole situation, whole year we battle through lots of difficult moments, injuries, trades, and we still believe in it,” Ovechkin said postgame. “Most important thing is belief. We all believe in each other. That experience that we have last month is going to help us. It’s going to help coaching staff because first time Carbs is going to be in the playoffs as head coach. It’s a huge step for us.”
The Capitals have been playing must-win games the entire spring as the playoff race in the East lasted until the very last day on the schedule for several teams vying for the second wild card position. The team used a good home ice record over the final two months (7-3-2) to keep them in the conversation.
Two of their most recent victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins came in the last four days and led the Capitals to their “win and you’re in” scenario against the Flyers.
“Inside the locker room was tremendous,” Ovechkin said. “We enjoyed that process. It’s special. That’s why we play hockey. You want to be in that kind of atmosphere and we beat pretty good teams to be able to make it.
“It’s situation nobody thought we’re gonna be in but we win. We’re gonna enjoy that moment tonight, tomorrow, and then back to work. You never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs. It’s different hockey, it’s different atmosphere. Everybody is going to be on a different level. I’m pretty excited.”
The goal that sealed the deal for the Capitals was a bizarre one. With the Flyers in need of a regulation victory, head coach John Tortorella pulled his goaltender Samuel Ersson with the game tied 1-1 late in the third period. TJ Oshie took Washington’s first chance at the empty net and finished Philadelphia off.
However, the Flyers had unknowingly been eliminated just moments before Tortorella lifted Ersson. The Detroit Red Wings had scored a goal with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation to earn at least a point and eliminate Philadelphia. But, no one had told Tortorella in time.
“Almost every game was Game Seven for us,” Ovechkin said. “Sometimes different teams help us and we still in the battle. It was crazy situation till tonight. Detroit get a point and [the Flyers] still pull the goalie. They didn’t know that. But we’ll take it. Thanks, Philly.”
The Capitals will now turn their focus to getting healthy before their first-round matchup kicks off against the New York Rangers. Due to some potential seeding movement in the Western Conference, the team will not know their exact scheduling fate until the final day of the regular season on Thursday.
After the roller coaster ride this season, Ovechkin and the Capitals will arrive in the playoffs with zero expectations.
“I think for us as a group we stick together,” Ovechkin said. “It was a tough year, tough season, injuries. You can see different guys from Hershey come up and they play unbelievable. We play hard. We’re gonna do something special this year. It’s only one step so I hope we’re going to continue to play like that.”
