POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 2, Bruins 1

Isle Be Seeing You - The Caps finished the round robin portion of the NHL's return to play on Sunday, handing the Boston Bruins a 2-1 setback that relegates the B's to a fourth seed in the Eastern Conference in a season in which they won the Presidents' Trophy. Washington came into the round robin as the third-ranked team in the East, and that's where they'll start the playoffs, after posting a 1-1-1 record in the round robin.

Washington also learned the identity of its first-round playoff foe; the Caps will open up against the New York Islanders, and Game 1 of that first-round series is slated for 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Islanders coach Barry Trotz - along with Isles assistant coach Lane Lambert and director of goaltending Mitch Korn - helped lead the Caps to their first Stanley Cup title two years ago.

"It'll be interesting for sure," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson, whose third-period proved to be the game-winner against the Bruins on Sunday. "Obviously we went through a fun time with those guys at a similar time of year. It might be a little bit of a chess match, but we're confident in our group and coaching staff. When we're on the same page and we buy into the system, we're going over a lot of video and a lot of details to be ready, and sometimes you've got to adjust on the go; every game is a little bit different. We're confident, we're excited for it, it will be a little different, but it will be interesting for sure."

Defensive Debut - Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary got into half a dozen games with Washington as a 20-year-old rookie in 2019-20, and he made his NHL playoff debut in Sunday's round-robin game against the Bruins. Fehervary finished the afternoon with 15:14 in ice time, a team high seven hits, and one blocked shot.

"Martin is a really solid prospect for us," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "We think he is going to play in the league for us for a long time. It's just a matter of putting him in situations where he can have success, he can grow, he can get better, and this was the right opportunity to put him in today.

"We wanted to be able to add a little more offense to our second power play unit if we were able to get some more power plays, and a guy who has played the power play a little bit in the American Hockey League in Martin. Obviously he is not a huge point producer, but he is a puck mover. Obviously, his skating is well above average and he can defend that way. I just thought it was a good chance for us to take a look at him next to Michal [Kempny]."

It's All Over Now - Now that the round robin portion of the NHL's return to play is in the books, the best thing we can say about it is that it's over. The League's play-in series were the equivalent of playoff hockey in most instances, but the round-robin games, not so much.

The Caps trimmed the Bruins 2-1 on Sunday in the last of the Eastern Conference round-robin contests and shortly thereafter, the Blues and Stars hooked up in the finale, a game that required a shootout. The idea behind the games made sense; if the top four teams in each conference were to receive a bye for the play-in round, how would they occupy themselves and stay active and sharp while the rest of the teams played playoff hockey for eight or nine days?

The round robin was designed to keep the top four teams in each conference playing competitively, but the added twist of playing for seeding among themselves was supposed to give them something tangible to play for, and to prevent the games from becoming playoff preseason games. It didn't really work, mostly because the incentive wasn't sufficient, and because there wasn't much of a disincentive, either.

Sure, being seeded No. 1 overall in your conference is optimal because you have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. But when we think of home ice advantage, what does that entail? Sleeping in your own bed, playing in your rink in front of your own fans, and being in your own familiar dressing room before and after games are all components of home ice advantage, as well as the advantages that coaches crave, such as last change and not having to put your stick down on the ice first for face-offs.

Simply put, there isn't enough incentive there to light a fire under every team. No home team is sleeping in its own beds during this tournament. Now that the Oilers and the Leafs have excused themselves, no team is playing in its own rink and no team is playing in front of any fans. "Goal songs" are played after goals by both teams, and even the Oilers and Leafs weren't able to use their own dressing rooms for "road games" during the play-in round.

In addition to the line change and face-off advantages, bubble city home ice perks amount to showing a recording of your own anthem singers performing both anthems before games, and having your own dasher board ads appear in the rink during your home games; that's far short of say, a brand new set of steak knives.

"Well, I don't know how many pros I can sit here and really give you, because we didn't play very well in the round robin," said St. Louis coach Craig Berube, asked about pros and cons of the format after his Blues' final round-robin game ended with the ignominy of a shootout on Sunday. "We played periods here and there and [had] spurts here and there, but there wasn't a ton of pros for us.

"The cons of it all? The games probably didn't mean enough. That's the best way I can put it."

Asked to follow up, Berube continued: "I don't know what home ice advantage really is here. Sure, you get last change, but it really doesn't feel like home-ice advantage for anybody."

Some players had similar views.

"I think these round-robin games - or whatever they were - you just kind of try to shake the rust off and get your team game in a place you want it to be," said Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask. "It doesn't matter what seed you are, because you've got to beat every team anyways if you want to advance. It's over now, and we start real hockey."

As we all know, these aren't normal times. The NHL has done a remarkable job in getting its return to play off the ground, and many of us have joyously parked ourselves in front of our televisions for hours on end since the game returned to our airwaves this month. But the round-robin games were a letdown overall, and that's not the NHL's fault.

Artificial urgency is nothing like artificial grass, it can't be manufactured.

By The Numbers - Dmitry Orlov led the Caps with 25:30 in ice time … Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with five shots on net and 10 shot attempts … Orlov led the Caps with five blocked shots … T.J. Oshie won five of eight face-offs (63%), including one that led to his own goal in the final minute of the first period, the Caps' first goal of the game.