ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Washington Capitals have had some time in recent weeks to brace for the end to their streak of eight consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that arrived Tuesday when they were eliminated from contention with the Florida Panthers' 2-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres.
Capitals 'weren't good enough' missing playoffs 1st time in 9 seasons
Washington eliminated from contention, had 2nd-longest postseason streak in NHL
Still, nothing could prepare them for the empty feeling of playing out the string in their final five games that will begin against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, NBCSWA, ESPN+, SN NOW).
"I think why you play hockey is you want to be in the playoffs," forward Nicklas Backstrom said. "That's what's exciting and that's what you live for. You want to win. Everyone around this area knows how special that was when we won. So, that feeling, that's what we want to get back in here. At the same time, we've got to realize that we haven't been good enough."
After a remarkable run that included finishing first in the Metropolitan Division five times, winning the Presidents' Trophy in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and their first Stanley Cup championship in 2017-18, Washington (34-34-9) will be on the on the outside looking in this postseason for the first time since 2013-14 and just the second time since 2006-07. That was captain Alex Ovechkin's second NHL season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, whose run of 16 consecutive postseason appearances also is in jeopardy of ending, were the lone NHL team with a longer active streak.
"This organization has just been win hockey games and make the playoffs every year," forward Tom Wilson said. "The culture in this room now is second to none. Not to say it's not there, but it's tough when you end up on the other side of that line, that thin margin. It can snowball a little. Things get tougher, wins get tougher and you've got to find a way to get through it.
"But it's definitely not fun. … You want to play in the playoffs, so it [stinks], but that's the reality of it."
Despite going 10-12-4 in its first 26 games, Washington was tied with the New York Rangers for third in the Metropolitan Division with 50 points (22-13-6) following a 12-1-2 surge from Dec. 5-Jan. 5. But the Capitals haven't strung together more than two consecutive wins since then.
A six-game losing streak from Feb. 12-23 pushed the Capitals to be sellers before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3 and they traded five players slated to be unrestricted free agents after this season: defensemen Dmitry Orlov (Boston Bruins) and Erik Gustafsson (Toronto Maple Leafs) and forwards Garnet Hathaway (Bruins), Marcus Johansson (Minnesota Wild) and Lars Eller (Colorado Avalanche).
After those trades, the clock was clicking on Washington's playoff streak, though the opportunity to climb back in the race remained. The final gut punch came in a 4-3 loss to the Penguins on March 25, when the Capitals could've pulled within two points of a playoff spot. Washington scored three times in the third period to rally from a 3-0 deficit before Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal with 1:20 remaining.
"Our second half of the season was nothing like we expected or what we wanted," forward Conor Sheary said. "For whatever reason, it seemed like any time we would get a big win, we would follow that up with a loss and we could never get momentum. We looked back at December and kept saying, 'If we get the momentum that we had in that month, we can string off 10 wins or 11 wins and get right back in it.' But for whatever reason, it seemed like we couldn't get ourselves out of the hole."
It would be easy for the Capitals to point to their host of injuries to key players as a major factor in their fate. Backstrom (hip resurfacing surgery) and Wilson (ACL surgery) each missed the first 42 games before Wilson missed another seven after blocking a shot off his ankle Jan. 24.
Defenseman John Carlson (skull fracture, severed temporal artery) missed 36 games after being struck in the head with a slap shot Dec. 23 and another six games earlier in the season (lower body). In all, Washington has lost 409 man-games to injury, including forwards Carl Hagelin, who hasn't played at all this season (two hip surgeries, eye), and Connor Brown (ACL surgery), who was limited to four games.
"The numbers are the numbers," coach Peter Laviolette said. "That's the story that's out there. It's not fabricated, it's not made up, nor do I think we should use it as a crutch. I'm disappointed about where we are in the standings right now. I think everybody is. The fact is we were in games that we needed to win, and we didn't get it done.
"It doesn't have anything to do with who was in the training room or who was on the ice."
The Capitals hope that, like with 2013-14, this will be a one-season break from the playoffs. With an aging core that includes Ovechkin, 37, Backstrom, 35, T.J. Oshie, 36, Carlson, 33, Evgeny Kuznetsov, 30, and Wilson, 29, Washington will try to get younger and retool on the fly.
That process began before the trade deadline when they acquired 23-year-old defenseman Rasmus Sandin from the Maple Leafs plus two third-round picks in the 2024 NHL Draft (Bruins and Wild) and two second-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft (Bruins and Avalanche). More moves, potentially involving some of those draft picks they acquired, could come before and during the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft in Nashville on June 28-29.
"Obviously, I think we all know we're getting older," Backstrom said. "But at the same time, we still want to win, and we still have the hunger in here and we just need it to click."
