Capitals look to ‘keep proving it’ after closing out Canadiens in Game 5

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals had waited a long time for this.

Still, the Capitals’ celebration following their series-clinching 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Wednesday was subdued and fitting of a team with bigger expectations in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It was a significant achievement, considering the Capitals hadn’t won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. So, it was something worth appreciating for a moment before turning their focus to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.

“It's obviously a good start,” center Dylan Strome said. “I feel like this group has obviously big aspirations, and we've proven that we're a great team all year, but we've got to keep proving it.”

The Capitals were pushed by the Canadiens more than maybe the result -- a five-game series -- might look from the outside. But battling through that was a necessary step Washington needed to take in its growth as a team.

Like in the first four games, the Capitals had to overcome some rough spots in Game 5, including being outshot 8-1 before Alex Ovechkin’s power-play goal gave them a 1-0 lead at 9:12 of the first period and some dicey moments hanging on in the third period until Brandon Duhaime’s clinching empty-net goal with 26 seconds remaining.

“I could feel we were tight tonight,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “We were tight, and it didn’t feel comfortable, and you could feel it on the bench. You could see it with some of the decisions, the puck touches, so to get that out of the way -- our organization, we haven’t won a series since 2018, seven years it’s been since we’ve won a series … So, hopefully, we can take a little bit of a deep breath now that we get over that hump.”

The Capitals have only four players remaining from the team that defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final -- Ovechkin and fellow forwards Tom Wilson and Lars Eller and defenseman John Carlson. They’ve almost completely revamped their roster over the past seven seasons, but mostly in the past three seasons when they recognized they needed to retool an aging roster to remain competitive.

Many of those players added made a difference in this series. Strome, an unrestricted free agent signing in 2022, had two assists Wednesday and had at least one point in each of the five games to lead the Capitals with nine points (two goals, seven assists).

The Capitals added seven new players last offseason alone after being swept by the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs last season: forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh, defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy and goalie Logan Thompson.

After helping Washington jump from the second wild card in the East last season to the top seed in the conference this season, many of those players had key roles in it getting past Montreal. Dubois drew the defensive assignment of being matched against the Canadiens top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky and chipped in offensively too, including setting up Chychrun for a goal that increased the Capitals’ lead to 2-0 at 11:15 of the first period.

Mangiapane scored the winning goal in Washington’s 5-2 win in Game 4 after Duhaime scored the first of his three goals in the series to tie the score at 2-2 earlier in the third period. And Thompson played well throughout and closed out the series with a 28-save performance Wednesday.

“Last year was kind of not a rebuild year, but I think management do a pretty good job to add experienced pieces, great players,” Ovechkin said. “And, obviously, it helped us to build a good organization and a good team.”

The Capitals’ old guard also did its part. An ageless wonder at 39 years old, Ovechkin followed up a 44-goal regular season, including his NHL record-breaking 895th goal on April 6, by leading Washington with four goals in the series. After being held without a point in the four-game loss to the Rangers in the first round last season -- the only time he hasn’t gotten at least one point in a postseason series in his 20-season NHL career -- Ovechkin had five against the Canadiens.

“For him to break the (goal) record and then be able to reset and refocus and now, ‘This is what means more to me than the record,’ is amazing in itself,” Carbery said. “To get himself to the spot where he played this playoffs compared to last year, it’s night and day, and he’s a year older. He’s 39 years old, and that’s just a credit to him.

“He just continues to do things that you just can’t wrap your head around in this sport, in this league, and at the most difficult time of the year.”

Ovechkin pointed to Wilson’s big hit on Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier seconds before Duhaime’s tying goal in the third period of Game 4 as the turning point in the series. Wilson was a focal point and a physical force throughout the series, tying Ovechkin for second on the Capitals with 19 hits (behind Duhaime’s 20) and contributing five points (two goals, three assists), including his power-play goal that increased their lead to 3-0 at 16:59 of the second period Wednesday.

“There's ups and downs in a playoff series,” Wilson said. “But I think for the most part we were pretty focused, and we were pretty diligent, and we went out and got the job done.”

The Capitals will move onto their next assignment, the Hurricanes, in the coming days, but what they learned in getting past the pesky Canadiens could have value for a team that hopes that it’s just getting started on a long postseason run.

“We have a great culture and a great core here,” Wilson said. “But all those pieces that have come in this offseason and built this team is kind of what it's all about. So, we've had a really fun time as a group and we'll just keep moving forward."