Washington Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Washington Capitals, NHL or NHLPA
Ovechkin gives his big series preview against Montreal
Photo credit: Toronto Star
We can't forget that the Washington Capitals still finished 2nd in the entire NHL this season with a dominant 51-22-9 record.
Despite their concerning play in the last months of the season, Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin gives his series preview ahead of their first-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
Sammi Silber took to X Saturday morning to report what Ovechkin had to say going into the playoffs.
Ovechkin on the Capitals entering playoffs: «As soon as the puck drops, everybody gonna be in motivation mode, beast mode.»
Peter Hassett from RMNB writes that the Capitals played their worst hockey in the final month of the season, and the boxscore stats back that up. After building an impressive goal differential through their first 70 games, they peaked and then plummeted revealing that their strong record may have masked deeper issues all along.
"Going 4-6-0 in the final ten games of the regular season is perhaps not how the Washington Capitals wanted to enter the postseason. The team had been competing for the President's Trophy all year only to crash down the stretch.
That late-season swoon is concerning, but I don't think those losses mean the Caps are more likely to lose to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round." -Hassett
That late-season swoon is concerning, but I don't think those losses mean the Caps are more likely to lose to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round." -Hassett
In April, Charlie Lindgren posted a .881 save percentage across all situations. With inconsistent showings from backups Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson, the Capitals managed just a .841 team save percentage over their final ten games, the worst in the NHL at five-on-five and only slightly better overall than the Hurricanes, who tanked their stats by surrendering seven goals to Ottawa in a largely meaningless Game 82.
Although injuries are never a great excuse, it makes sense why the Capitals had an underwhelming end to their regular seaon.
In the next few days, there will be plenty of talk about how badly Washington ended the season, with the underlying suggestion that they were never really that good to begin with. But that's not entirely fair.
Hassett also writes that if the team can find some middle ground between their hot streak and their late-season slump, and if a healthy Logan Thompson can provide solid goaltending, they should be just fine.
If Ovechkin and the rest of his team can enter beast mode, the Capitals shouldn't have too much to worry about in the playoffs.
Previously on Washington Hockey Insider
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 19 | 57 ANSWERS Ovechkin gives his big series preview against Montreal Are you worried about the Capitals heading into their first-round matchup against Montreal? | ||
| yes | 24 | 42.1 % |
| no | 33 | 57.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
