Written by Scott Allen at Washington Post.com
Here are the best and worst moments from the Capitals’ 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7, eliminating Washington from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Worst curtains: For the second consecutive year, the Capitals won the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best regular season team, only to be eliminated by the Penguins in the second round. The Rock the Red Era as we know it is over, because with several key players’ contracts expiring, the team surrounding Alex Ovechkin is destined to look very different next season. Add another chapter to the Capitals’ encyclopedia of playoff disappointments. Next spring will mark 20 years since Washington last advanced to the third round. Maybe next year will be different …said every Capitals fan for the past four decades.
Best goalie: Braden Holtby was no slouch, with 26 saves on 28 shots, including several in the third period that kept Washington within striking distance. Marc-Andre Fleury was better, turning aside all 29 shots he faced after having allowed eight goals in his previous four periods.
Worst nemesis: The dang Penguins. The Capitals are now 1-9 all-time against Pittsburgh in postseason series, including four Game 7 losses. The Penguins overcame a pair of three-games-to-one deficits to beat Washington in 1992 and 1995. It seemed the Capitals might get their revenge and exorcise one of their postseason demons 22 years later, but it wasn’t to be.
Best fake holiday: It says here that Thursday is National Eat What You Want Day. Mmmmm, feelings.
Worst urgency: The Capitals were the team in need of an equalizing goal to prolong their season, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the first eight minutes of the third period. Pittsburgh had eight of the first 10 shots in the frame, scored a goal and rang another shot off the post on a power play that came after Holtby made yet another save on an odd-man rush. Washington finished with six shots in the third period.
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