After the Capitals fell behind 3-0 in their series against Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders, Evgeny Kuznetsov shaved his head bald and only left the goatee part of his playoff beard ahead of Game Four.
The bald/goatee getup resembled Barry Trotz’s look during his time in Washington, but it appears Kuzy, a huge soccer fan, was actually influenced by a famous footballer.
The Washington Capitals were officially eliminated from the 2020 playoffs by the New York Islanders on Thursday.
After the game, the two teams continued the greatest tradition in sports, the handshake line, and Capitals players were especially warm towards their former head coach, Barry Trotz.
The Washington Capitals have been knocked out of the 2020 NHL playoffs in the first round by their old bench boss and his New York Islanders in only five games. The 4-0 defeat marks the second season in a row that the Caps haven’t at least seen the second round after seeing it in the prior four.
The Caps outshot the Isles 21 to 17 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 52 to 23.
By Chris Cerullo 3 years ago
Todd Reirden’s had a lot of regular-season success in his first two seasons as an NHL head coach. He’s won the Metropolitan Division both years and is the third coach in NHL history to earn an All-Star nod in his first two seasons. Reirden’s .642 point percentage (89-46-16) ranks fifth in NHL history among coaches with at least 100 games.
But for whatever reason, Reirden’s Capitals have struggled in the postseason, flaming out in the first round two years in a row. The Capitals were upset in seven games by the Carolina Hurricanes last year and Thursday, the Capitals were eliminated in five games to the upstart New York Islanders, who are led by Reirden’s former boss and the Capitals’ former Stanley Cup-winning head coach, Barry Trotz.
Many Capitals fans on social media have pointed blame at Reirden for the team’s lack of preparation and motivation during this year’s postseason. The team, an offensive juggernaut in the regular season, only saw Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and TJ Oshie score goals in their first-round series. The team struggled to forecheck and put sustained pressure on Seymon Varlamov for a majority of the series.
So during the Caps’ postgame press conference, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski asked Reirden bluntly how confident he was that he’d be back next season.
A sullen Braden Holtby spoke to reporters via a Zoom video conference after Washington’s 4-0 Game Five loss to the New York Islanders, Thursday. The loss marked the second-straight year the Capitals were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Holtby, who is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, was asked if he had played his last game with the Washington Capitals.
By Ian Oland 3 years ago
The Capitals lost their last hockey game of the season. The New York Islanders advance to the second round with a gentlemen’s sweep: four games to one.
Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals for the Isles, and a couple of empty-netters made it four. The Caps scored none.
Caps lose.
By Peter Hassett 3 years ago
Nicklas Backstrom is back from injury and before the game, he got a special message from his three biggest fans.
Haley, Vince, and Alizee Backstrom recorded a video for Dad from their home in Galve, Sweden.
Backy’s back, all right!
You guys, Nicklas Backstrom will play in Game Five. Backstrom has been out since the second period of Game One after taking a late, blindside hit from Anders Lee. Backstrom suffered a concussion on the play.
It is game number five for the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders series in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Caps avoided elimination on Tuesday night after a win, but the bad news is that they’re facing elimination again! The Isles are up in the series 3-1.
Just gotta take it one game at a time. Is it possible the Caps can make a wild comeback? Yeah. Are the odds pretty slim? Yeah, but there are odds! Always need to find the silver lining.
The puck drops at 8 PM and, as always, Peter Hassett will once welcome you back here with a recap. Let’s go Caps.
By Elyse Bailey 3 years ago
