The Capitals fell short of their ultimate goal. The Stanley Cup will have to wait until next year – at least. But Alex Ovechkin and Jose Theodore will at least return from Las Vegas with some hardware after Wednesday’s NHL Awards.

Ovechkin won the Ted Lindsay Award – formerly the Lester B. Pearson Award – as the players’ choice for the league’s most outstanding player. He is the first person so honored three years in a row since Wayne Gretzky in the early 1980s. The Great One actually won it four years in a row so Ovechkin still has something to shoot for. He did not, however, extend his Hart Trophy winning streak. That went to Vancouver center Henrik Sedin, who led the NHL with 112 points. Ovechkin had won the Hart the previous two seasons as the writers’ choice for most valuable player.