2024-04-29 03:27:00
No points, five shots and four losses. This is how Alexander Ovechkin’s playoffs go.
The captain on Washington capitals was – like his teammates – powerless in front of the champions in the Presidents’ Trophy, the Rangers in New Yorkwho swept the first-round series in just four games.
“It’s my fault, I didn’t play well. It’s frustrating,” summed up the Capitals captain in the locker room following the game.
For Ovechkin (38), it is unclear whether this was his last appearance in the playoffs, but the question arises. The Capitals are no longer the power they were when they won the Stanley Cup in 2018, and their captain is certainly no longer the dominant player he was for most of his NHL career.
However, the word “retirement” is still not mentioned in the Ovechkin clan. The Russian still has two years left on his contract, and it would be very surprising to see him end his pursuit of the first goal scorer in NHL history so close to the goal. Ovechkin currently has 853 regular season goals in the NHL, 41 fewer than Wayne Gretzky who ranks first in history.
During this streak, Ovechkin failed to direct a single puck forward Igor Shesterkin during the first and last match. In Game 4, he was limited to just 15:26 of ice time, by far the lowest total of the playoffs.
“I tried to find solutions, but we had difficulty settling into their area. We did a lot of back and forth in the neutral zone. It was frustrating, but that’s the playoffs. »
Against the Rangers Rangers, Ovechkin was completely suffocated and never managed to give some momentum to his teammates who badly needed it. In four games, Washington will have been limited to just seven goals following earning the last available playoff spot.
Despite the disappointment, Ovechkin said he still had hopes of making “a few” runs in the playoffs.
“We fought for two and a half months for this playoff spot. We went through the damages, the transactions. We showed the character of this group and it is a good experience for several players in this dressing room. »
Next year, the capitals will still be able to rely on a substantially intact core. Besides Ovechkin, the attackers TJ Oshie, Tom Wilson, Dylan Stromeas well as the defenders John Carlson, Nick Jensen and Trevor Van Riemsdyk is still under contract with the team.
The Capitals staff will undoubtedly need to find offensive support to support Ovechkin during the offseason, especially if the team wants to try to make one last attempt at a championship before the end of the Czar’s era.
“No one believed in this group, but we stuck together and fought until the end. We have young players who have taken a big step forward and they will use this experience to become better players. »
Max Pacioretty and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel will find themselves on the free agent market on July 1 if they don’t reach a new deal with the Capitals by then. Washington will also have to negotiate the terms of a new agreement with the striker Connor McMichael who will become a restricted free agent.
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