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In the final minutes of the Washington Capitals’ 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon, Alex Ovechkin got on his knees and clutched his mouth after an opponent rammed him into an umpire. For weeks, Ovechkin shielded his emotions as the Capitals’ season spiraled out of control, but he couldn’t contain his frustration any longer at Capital One Arena. He followed this Rangers player, Barclay Goodrow, down the ice and hit him with his stick. Then he did it over and over again, throwing more torque into each swing before finally being called out for a penalty and forced out of the game.
By this time, a brawl had broken out on the ice at center, with Capitals forward Tom Wilson and defenseman Martin Fehervary each engaged in their own fistfights. Their coach, Peter Laviolette, yelled at an official while New York coach Gerard Gallant managed a smile.
Ovechkin ran off the ice back into the dressing room and sarcastically clapped his gloves as he walked past a referee. This is relatively new territory for Ovechkin and many of his teammates; The Capitals have missed the playoffs just once in the last 15 years, and after Sunday’s loss their tragic tally is now three — the number of combined points they have yet to lose before they are out of the postseason for the first time in nine retire seasons.
Their fourth straight loss underscored the widening rift between the Capitals and playoff Rangers, and the emotional outburst late Sunday was a reminder that many in Washington’s locker room are still learning to process this grim situation.
“It’s difficult. Nobody wanted this. Nobody expected that. I think everything weighs on you a lot more,” said Capitals defenseman John Carlson. “I think if things clearly haven’t gone the way we wanted this year, it is very difficult for everyone. If you don’t win a lot of games, it’s difficult to have confidence in saying and waking up, “I’m going to be very confident with the puck today, and everyone else is going to work for me.”
After Laviolette and several veterans chided the team’s efforts in a loss to Tampa Bay three days earlier, the Capitals at least didn’t get checked out on Sunday. They went full throttle. But their execution was poor and they fell into an early hole after K’Andre Miller hit a rebound at 13:17 of the first period. Just over two minutes later, Alexis Lafrenière made the game of the night – feigning a shot between his legs before backhanding the puck past Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper to make it 2-0.
When Kaapo Kakko extended the lead to 3-0 just a minute into the second half, a huge crowd at the Capital One Arena got up and sang for the away team.
“We haven’t done well enough where we’re sitting in the position we’re sitting in. So where we are right now is our own doing,” said Laviolette. “Does it work against you a bit? Yeah I think so coming from a confidence standpoint or the thought of going into the postseason and you’re not and that suits us. But we have to fight our way through it and be better than today.”
On the stretch, there were isolated bright spots for the Capitals, including Dylan Strome, who set a new career-high in points (58) with the team’s first goal on Sunday that cut the lead to 3-1. And Aliaksei Protas, a regular in the line-up this season, has shown himself to be a capable top-six forward in recent weeks; his goal in the third half put Washington 4-2 up and gave fans a taste of what could be in store for the 22-year-old next season.
But what a breakthrough Protas felt on Sunday was quickly answered. Rangers ended the game with a goal from Mika Zibanejad with just over six minutes left.
As Protas got the puck on the ice on his next shift, Ovechkin crashed into an official after colliding with Goodrow. This set off a volcanic reaction in the capitals; Laviolette then hinted that the frustration was not only heightened by a possible missed call to the play, but also by weeks of hardship. Young players, who were experiencing this for the first time, could also feel it on Sunday.
“It’s really hard. . . . The club’s history over the last 10 years has been nothing but at least playoffs and fights for the cup,” Protas said. “But now it’s time to look in the mirror.”
Here’s what else you should know about losing the capitals:
The Capitals were without veterans TJ Oshie and Trevor van Riemsdyk on Sunday. Oshie suffered an upper body injury in the first third against Tampa Bay and is considered day-to-day; van Riemsdyk is also suffering from an upper body injury and is expected to be out for at least a week. He was replaced in the lineup by Matt Irwin.
With Charlie Lindgren out with an illness, the Capitals scramble to find Kuemper’s replacement for Sunday’s game, opting to sign their 2018 fourth-round pick Mitchell Gibson to an amateur tryout agreement for him to dress could. It was an unusual way for Gibson to dress for his first NHL game, which comes less than two weeks after ending his college career at Harvard. The Capitals said in a statement Sunday that they intend to sign Gibson to an NHL contract at a later date.
Strome reaches career peak
A silver lining for the Capitals was forward Strome, whose second-half goal tipped his career scoring high. Strome, who signed a five-year contract extension in January, has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in his past 21 games.