Nicklas Backstrom

Capitals believe aging core can still win the Stanley Cup, but lament basically giving series away to Panthers

The Washington Capitals were maddeningly inconsistent and had mediocre goaltending during the regular season while the Panthers set a salary cap record for most goals in a season (340) and won the Presidents’ Trophy. The two teams’ first-round series didn’t seem likely to be competitive. Instead, the eighth-seeded Capitals pushed the Atlantic Division champs to the brink.

The Capitals played physical against the Panthers and committed to a suffocating defensive game. “We can play offensive hockey in the beer league in the summer, right?” observed Evgeny Kuznetsov during the series. The Capitals mostly got fantastic goaltending from Ilya Samsonov in five games played.

The Capitals managed to take a 2-1 series lead in Game Three, but they could not close it out. Despite having leads during the next three games, the Capitals lost Games Four, Five, and Six, and were first-rounded for the fourth consecutive season.

The Caps have not won a playoff series since 2018 when they won their only Stanley Cup in franchise history. After falling to the Panthers 4-3 in overtime, uncomfortable questions were raised to the team’s leadership group, including if its aging core is able to win another championship. Alex Ovechkin is 36, TJ Oshie is 35, Nicklas Backstrom is 34 and coming off a hip injury that kept him out the first few months of the season, and John Carlson is 32. The first-pairing defenseman was on the ice for every Panthers’ goal (four) that was scored in the decisive Game Six.

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