By Noah Hickman
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals (Photo by Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
After winning the first game of the series against the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime, the Capitals went on to lose the next four games in the first round eliminating them from the playoffs.
Ever since winning the Stanley Cup in the 2017-18 season, the Capitals have lost in the first round three times in a row.
The last two playoff appearances, the Capitals lost four out of its five games.
Call me a fool, but after winning the Stanley Cup against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, I thought the Capitals had finally removed the 'choke' label.
I had especially thought that because the one obstacle that was constantly in the Capitals' way was the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After they took the Penguins down in six games in the 2017-18 season, all the tension was removed.
It largely didn't matter if the Capitals won the Stanley Cup or not; the fact of the matter is they beat the one team people said they couldn't.
In hindsight, it was a mistake to even let one of the great head coaches in Barry Trotz consider leaving after winning it all because it has been nothing short of an utter disaster under Todd Reirden and Peter Laviolette (yes, two new head coaches after winning the Stanley Cup in less than five years).
The cheap Capitals did not want to pony up to the dough and pay Trotz what he deserved and now they are paying the price.
Trotz sought a five year contract paying him $5 milllion per season and even that would not have made him the highest paid NHL coach.
He was making $1.5 million per year with the Capitals before he became the new head coach for the New York Islanders.
When the third winningest coach in NHL history wants $5 million per year after he wins a Stanley Cup -- give him the fricking money!
Instead, yet again the Capitals have choked in the playoffs.
One more point of emphasis -- injuries are not an excuse for the Capitals pathetic first round performance.
On Monday, I was listening to 106.7 The Fan and the sports talk hosts were using the Capitals' injuries as an excuse to why they lost the series.
Part of that is true, and I think the Bruins would have won the series regardless since they have a much younger team but there is no way this series should have been wrapped up in five games.
In Game 2 of the series, the Capitals were up 3-2 and on the verge of taking a 2-0 series lead which was when disaster struck with 2:49 to go in regulation.
Bruins left winger Taylor Hall scored the game-tying goal on a Capitals defense that was playing prevent for the final five minutes and in overtime, left winger Brad Marchand won it for the Bruins.
There is absolutely no reason why any hockey team should play prevent defense with five minutes to go in a playoff game up by a single goal.
Yes, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Bäckström, Lars Eller and others may not have not been 100% due to them sustaining injuries, but this series should have been at least six games long and would have been if not for the nonsense prevent defense.
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