NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-New York Rangers at Washington Capitals

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The Washington Capitals were not the better team in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the New York Rangers. That much was clear from the start. The Presidents’ Trophy winners from New York matched up against a Washington team that needed all 82 games — and more than a bit of good fortune — just to reach the postseason as the Eastern Conference’s final representative.

But when Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery was asked Sunday morning, ahead of a do-or-die Game 4, whether games within the series felt as lopsided as the 3-0 deficit made it seem, Carbery’s response was quick and unequivocal.

“Not at all,” he said. “Not at all.”

On Sunday night at Capital One Arena, the Capitals were, for the fourth game in a row, able to hang with — and at times have the upper hand on — the Rangers during five-on-five play. And for the fourth game in a row, it didn’t matter. Washington’s inability to win the special teams battle proved to be its undoing in a 4-2 loss that ended the series and its season.

“The special teams was such a big part of the series,” Carbery said. “You’ve got to give them credit. Those are five elite, elite, elite, world-class players. There’s a reason they were the third-best power play. Those guys have had tremendous seasons. We’re going to have to live with that, figure that out.”

It was the first time the Capitals were swept out of the playoffs since the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011. Captain Alex Ovechkin again was held off the scoreboard, leaving him without a goal, or even a point, in the series — making this the first of Ovechkin’s 19-year career when he didn’t record a point.

Goaltender Charlie Lindgren took the loss while making 19 saves on 22 shots. Igor Shesterkin stopped 23 of 25 for New York, which will face the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders in the second round.

“It stings,” Capitals center Nic Dowd said. “I think you can play a lot of what-if, and I think guys will be doing that for the next couple days. Honestly, five-on-five, we did some really good things, and we, at times, outplayed them. … They won the special teams battle, they won the games, and that’s what ended up turning the series.”

Game 4 began on an inauspicious note for Washington. Defenseman Nick Jensen, playing his first game since he suffered <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/13/nick-jensen-injury-capitals-lightning/" target=_blank>an upper-body injury</a> against Tampa Bay on April 13, turned over the puck to Kaapo Kakko on the first shift, and Kakko needed no more help to put his Rangers in the lead. Just 57 seconds into a do-or-die game, the Capitals were in a hole.

But Washington didn’t let Jensen’s gaffe spark a death spiral. The Capitals regained their footing, controlling much of the play at five-on-five and settling into the game.

Late in the period, center Dylan Strome won a puck battle along the boards and slipped the puck to winger Aliaksei Protas, who spotted defenseman Martin Fehervary flying down the wing with space. Protas’s tape-to-tape feed set up Fehervary for a one-touch finish at 14:54 as Shesterkin sprawled, losing his stick in the process.

But the self-inflicted wounds returned for Washington in the period’s final moments. Jensen took a penalty for tripping Adam Fox at 18:51, and with just 16 seconds remaining in the period, Vincent Trocheck found space in the slot to lift the go-ahead goal over Lindgren.

Winger Tom Wilson, whom Trocheck skated past into space before the goal, went after Fox as the Rangers celebrated, sparking a skirmish behind Lindgren and earning him a penalty for roughing. Already in a precarious position and having struggled on the penalty kill throughout the series, the Capitals could ill afford an undisciplined moment from the physical forward.

But Washington killed off Wilson’s penalty in the second period and, for perhaps the first time in the series, was able to build on the momentum. It didn’t produce an immediate goal, but the Capitals chipped away, finding their footing and keeping the Rangers at bay.

The Capitals lacked high-skill, game-breaking moments in the first three games. Carbery pointed out Sunday morning that Washington had one five-on-five goal from a top-six forward in the series — center Connor McMichael’s tally to open Game 2.

Scott Taetsch

Center Hendrix Lapierre changed that with a stunning solo effort midway through the period. As he picked the puck up in the neutral zone, four Rangers stood between Lapierre and Shesterkin; he paid the numerical disadvantage little mind. First weaving past Jack Roslovic, then finding a lane between Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren, Lapierre attacked down the slot and fired a backhand shot that Shesterkin saved.

In previous games in this series, that would have been the end of the threat. But Lapierre picked up his own rebound and, in a split second, lifted the puck back up over Shesterkin to tie the score at 2 at 7:48. It was his first Stanley Cup playoff goal.

The Capitals weathered a late push by New York to enter the second intermission with the score still tied. A high-sticking penalty by winger T.J. Oshie early in the third period put Washington in a dangerous position, and New York quickly capitalized. Artemi Panarin needed just 11 seconds of power-play time to find the back of the net off a feed from Mika Zibanejad.

“I felt like that took a lot of wind out of our sails,” Carbery said.

McMichael drew a hooking penalty less than two minutes later, but the Capitals’ series-long problems on the power play continued to be an issue. Washington recorded just one shot attempt on the man advantage, a try from Ovechkin that was blocked by defenseman Jacob Trouba, and spent much of the two minutes just trying to establish possession in the offensive zone.

“It’s obviously not good enough,” Strome said. “Sucks that it has to end this way. I thought our power play was really good the last three months of the season. … A big reason why we got to the playoffs.”

The Capitals struggled to find the push they needed to tie it. With the lead, the Rangers could sit back and defend, daring Washington to make plays that it was largely unequipped to make.

“New York’s so good — and they showed it in this series — when they have a lead,” Carbery said. “I know they had some issues in the regular season, but when they ... sit back in that 1-3-1 [forecheck] and really make you have to make three, four, five really good plays to create something … that’s a real challenge for our group.”

It wasn’t until the final minutes that the Capitals started to put pressure on Shesterkin. But any hope was snuffed out when, after a series of threatening but unproductive shifts, defenseman Rasmus Sandin tripped Panarin as he brought the puck up the ice with 2:42 left.

Carbery pulled Lindgren to bring the game back to five-on-five — one final, last-ditch attempt to save the season. With 51 seconds left, Roslovic hit the empty net to end the Capitals’ brief appearance in the playoffs.

“This time of year, it always sucks,” Wilson said. “Proud of the group. It’s tough knowing you’re not coming to the rink tomorrow and this group won’t be one ever again. We battled to the end.”

University of Michigan, BA in communications

Bailey Johnson joined The Washington Post in 2023 as the Washington Capitals beat writer. She previously covered the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Columbus Crew for the Columbus Dispatch. 

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