The Washington Capitals couldn’t write the storybook ending that perhaps some envisioned for them during the 2024-25 season. Instead, they were eliminated by the forever-annoying Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the second round.
What a truly fun year. We’ll look back on this season very fondly.
- Buongiorno, my favorite people. Another year of morning number posts in the book. It has been about eight and a half years since this post series became a thing, so long that you probably don’t remember that I didn’t start writing them until the start of the 2017-18 season. We’ve gone through format shifts, billions of arguments in the comments, I’ve learned a lot, and hopefully you’ve learned something, because otherwise I’ve been staying up until absurd hours in the morning for no reason. I kid, I kid. When people tell me that they like these posts (people other than my own mother), I still don’t really know how to react. Not sure if that’s the impostor syndrome or just social awkwardness. Anyway, thanks for another fun year.
- Now, to the stuff you’re actually here for. The Capitals actually out-attempted the Hurricanes at five-on-five (51-49) in Game 5, which seemed like an impossibility coming into the night. Their best period was the last of the year as they pushed to find the game-winning goal, only to be sunk by whatever that Andrei Svechnikov shot was. The 13 five-on-five high danger chances they created in Game 5 were a series-high, but unfortunately, they also gave up 14 to Carolina.
- You don’t need me to tell you that seven goals isn’t enough offense in five playoff games. The NHL’s second-highest scoring team during the regular season, 3.49 goals per game, managed to score just 1.4 goals per game in the second round against the Hurricanes. No Capitals player had more than two points, and no Capitals player had more than one goal. Obviously, can’t win like that.
- The two goals Logan Thompson gave up were really bad, but the key part of this sentence is “two goals.” An NHL team should be winning the majority of games where their goalie allows two or fewer goals. Thompson had seven of those games in this year’s playoffs, three coming against Carolina. While he may have given up some frustrating ones, he was the MVP of both the regular season and postseason for me.
- The Capitals finished with the fourth-worst power play in the playoffs, converting on just 17.9 percent of their chances. They had the very worst power play in the second round, dropping to a 13.3 percent success rate against Carolina’s league-best penalty kill. The power play was truly inconsistent the whole season, and I think a lot of thought will go into how it looks next year. Hopefully, we see the minutes spread out a lot more.
- Alex Ovechkin finished his 16th career postseason with six points (5g, 1a) in 10 games. He scored just one goal against the Hurricanes on a five-on-three power play. I think Ovi had a lot of fun with this team, so I expect him back next season, perhaps for one last go at things. Wow, that’s weird to even type.
- Major shoutout to Spencer Carbery, who made our favorite team fun to watch again. I hope he wins the Jack Adams Award, and then Chris Patrick and the front office really back him this summer with some bold moves. The Capitals have seen up close and personal that their side of the East is likely going to run through Carolina, so it’s time to evaluate what areas of the team need to be addressed to better combat a team like the Canes. Carbs led the Caps to a 51-22-9 record in just his second year behind the bench, the team’s first 50-win season since the 2016-17 campaign.
- For those still craving more Caps-related hockey, the Hershey Bears are giving it another go in the Calder Cup Playoffs. They eliminated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last week and kick off their Atlantic Division Finals series against the Charlotte Checkers later tonight. Guys like Hendrix Lapierre, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Pierrick Dubé, Henrik Rybinski, Vincent Iorio, Bogdan Trineyev, etc., are fighting to make the Bears only the second AHL team to ever three-peat as Calder Cup champions. Current players on the Caps roster, Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson, and Mitchell Gibson, will likely be joining back up with the Bears. As a reminder, top prospect Ryan Leonard is ineligible for the AHL playoffs.
