Here is a list the Washington Capitals could have made for themselves before the start of the NHL season:
Find a style of play more suited for tight, defensive, playoff hockey.
Check.
Beat a first-round opponent they clearly are better than.
Check.
Win a series in less than seven games.
Check.
At least reach the Eastern Conference finals.
To be determined.
The agenda for the Caps all year has been about the big “T” — not talent but transformation.
In this era of immediacy, we tend to live in the moment. If you are looking for perspective, look someplace else. You won’t find it in the social media era of attention.
What happened to the Caps, though, was that their moment — losing Game 7 and their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens last year — lasted an entire year.
Since then, it has been all about changing the moment. On Saturday afternoon at Verizon Center, the Caps changed that moment with a 3-1 win over the eighth-seeded New York Rangers in Game 5 to clinch their first-round series.
“It’s first time we win the series in five games,” team captain Alex Ovechkin said. “It’s pretty cool. We have time to rest. Right now I feel pretty good, but it’s not over yet. It’s just one step.”
Yes, it is just one step. But while fans have every right to expect this team to win a Stanley Cup — its owner, Ted Leonsis, has pretty much made it clear it is a matter of when, not if — a reasonable perspective is to keep moving forward, to keep taking steps.
For that to happen, the Caps have to check off the next box — get past the Eastern Conference semifinals. The furthest this unit has gone was a seven-game second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins two years ago.
“We’ve never done it before,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after the game about ending the series in five games. “I’ll have to give my head a shake when I wake up tomorrow and wonder where we’re supposed to be playing.”
You could make the case that they are supposed to be playing for the Stanley Cup.
The choking legacy of the Caps has to be divided into two eras. The Caps, under the direction of general manager David Poile, made the Stanley Cup playoffs 15 straight seasons, but they were never thought to be the best team on the ice in any of those seasons.
These Caps, under GM George McPhee, with such stars as Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green, won the President’s Trophy last year for the most points and finished second this season to Vancouver. They have been crowned by many as a champion-in-waiting.
Mark that as “to be determined” on the checklist.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
