The Montreal Canadiens’ recent performances have been hard to digest for many, but in the camp of their next rivals, the Washington Capitals, the bitterness has reached a new level.
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Indeed, Alexander Ovechkin’s band will land for the only time this season at the Bell Center on Thursday without any real stakes. His elimination was confirmed Tuesday night when the Florida Panthers defeated the Buffalo Sabers. The “Caps” will miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years and no one in their locker room looks happy. The rest of the regular schedule looks bleak despite the race for the most career goals record that continues for “Ovi”.
“It’s sad and hard to take. However, we are professionals and we always want to win games. We still want to play hockey and perform for the fans, because that’s why they come to the arena. It’s very important for us to win the last games, notwithstanding which ones,” striker Evgeny Kuznetsov told the media on Tuesday during the day.
For his part, defender Matt Irwin has a sharper opinion. “It’s unacceptable,” he said. At this time of year, we were used to finding ourselves in a position to qualify for the playoffs, if the whole thing was not already assured. I’ve been here for two years and I knew the expectations. […] No doubt in my mind that this team will return to the playoffs next year.
injuries
However, the Capitals started the campaign with a few bumps in the road. Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and Tom Wilson (knee) missed the opening half of the season; the second has missed further matches due to an ankle injury. This is without taking into account the serious misadventure experienced by guard John Carlson, hit in the head by a strike from Brenden Dillon, of the Winnipeg Jets, on December 23.
Still, the excuses aren’t enough in Washington, where the club has a .500 record good for 13th in the National League Eastern Conference. It will take more, judge the players. “When you play hockey, you want to make the playoffs,” Backstrom said. It’s exciting and that’s what you’re here for. You want to win, so we have to be better.”
“We all know we are getting old, but we want to win and we are still hungry. It just has to click.”