Photo: X/@Capitals
The Washington Capitals fell to the New York Rangers, 4-2, Sunday night at Capital One Arena in Washington. The loss completes the Rangers sweep of the Capitals, 4-0, and ends the Capitals 2023-24 campaign.
The Rangers opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the contest when Kaapo Kakko capitalized on a Nick Jensen turnover to make it 1-0. The Capitals tied the game on Martin Fehervary’s second goal of the postseason at 14:54 of the frame, but the Rangers answered with a power play goal from Vincent Trocheck with just 15 seconds remaining in the period for a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.
The Capitals tied the game on a beautiful rush and rebound shot by Hendrix Lapierre (1) at 7:48 off the middle frame, making it 2-2, and that was it for the middle frame.
T.J. Oshie took an early high-sticking penalty in the final frame, and the Rangers once again capitalized. Artemi Panarin (2) scored the go-ahead tally just 11 seconds into the man advantage. The Rangers added an empty net goal in the final minute for the 4-2 win.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren (0-3-0, 3.77 GAA, ,864 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Igor Shesterkin (3-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .933 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Rangers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin – Hendrix Lapierre- Sonny Milano
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty – Connor McMichael – T.J. Oshie
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aubé-Kubel
Martin Fehervary- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev- Dylan McIlrath
Charles Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Trevor van Riemsdyk, Lucas Johnson, Vincent Iorio, Hardy Haman Aktell, Mitchell Gibson, Mike Sgarbossa, Ethan Bear, Ivan Miroshnichenko.
1ST PERIOD
The Rangers opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the contest. Following a Nick Jensen turnover, Kaapo Kakko dented the twine for a 1-0 lead.
PUT IN THE WORK + PUT IT AWAY. pic.twitter.com/QJldoGKAOo
— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 29, 2024
The Capitals tied the game on Martin Fehervary’s second goal of the postseason at 14:54 of the frame. Aliaksei Protas (2) and Dylan Strome (1) had the helpers.
That’s two goals this postseason for 4-2 pic.twitter.com/MfZQ8v6cba
— x – Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 29, 2024
The Rangers added a late power play goal to make it 2-1. Vincent Trocheck scored his third goal of the series with just 15 seconds remaining in the frame.
Power play Troch strikes from the slot. pic.twitter.com/h2wio94AO3
— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 29, 2024
The first period concluded with the Rangers leading, 2-1. New York led in five-on-five shot attempts, 19-17, but the Capitals led in scoring chances, 11-5, high-danger chances, 3-0 and expected goals for .85 to .64.
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals tied the game on a beautiful rush and rebound shot by Hendrix Lapierre (1) at 7:48 off the middle frame. Alex Alexeyev (1) had the lone helper.
LAPPY’S FIRST CAREER POSTSEASON GOAL IS AN ABSOLUTE STUNNER pic.twitter.com/i76ExhhZMX
— x – Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 29, 2024
The second period concluded with the game tied 2-2. It was the first time in the series the Rangers did not lead going into the third period.
The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 18-13, scoring chances, 9-4, high-danger chances, 4-2 and expected goals for .78 to .27.
3RD PERIOD
T.J. Oshie took an early high-sticking penalty, and the Rangers once again capitalized. Artemi Panarin (2) scored the go-ahead tally just 11 seconds into the man advantage at 3:21.
A Breadman SNIPE, you love to see it. pic.twitter.com/IujTU3OrIX
— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 29, 2024
The Rangers added an empty net goal in the final minute and that was all the Rangers needed, as they held on for the 4-2 win.
SHAVINGS (Via Capitals PR)
- Martin Fehervary scored his second goal of the series to tie the score 1-1. Fehervary’s three points (2g, 1a) in four games are tied with Tom Wilson (1g, 2a) for the team lead.
- Dylan Strome recorded his first assist of the postseason on Fehervary’s game-tying goal.
- Hendrix Lapierre scored his first career playoff goal to tie the score 2-2 in the second period. Lapierre is the third different Capital to score their first career postseason goal this series (also Connor McMichael and Martin Fehervary).
- Alex Alexeyev, Washington’s first-round pick in 2018, recorded his first career Stanley Cup Playoff point and assist on Lapierre’s goal.
- This is the Capitals first sweep since 2011 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
By Jon Sorensen
I thought we might at least win one.
The penalties and inability to convert on power plays really hurt them all series. Well, that and Ovi being barely engaged.
We did a lot better than I expected
Wasn’t expecting much, but still a tough pill to swallow. Glad the kids got a few postseason games under their belt.
Special teams the difference in all four games. Doesn’t bode well for Rangers
Rebuilds aren’t for the faint of heart.
Turn out the lights, the party’s over
They say that all good things must end
Call it a night, the party’s over
And September starts the same old thing again
Ovi 5 sog in four games. Am waiting to hear about injuries. Chucky had a great year. Love Osh but feel he needs to retire for his family. Did see some growth in prospects but need some new leaders. If same Caps team come September, next year will be a disappointment.
Bears start their playoff series Wednesday against Lehigh Valley.
TJ will likely stay on the roster, FOR his family. He’s owed $5.7 mill, and he’s got several kids (at least three). They’ll all need college tuition (which is getting prohibitively expensive) and everything els kids need.
They’ll probably find something wrong with him, and LTIR him. But any way slice it, he’ll be collecting that paycheck, and so will Backstrom
“If I’m in a state where I can’t play, I’m usually literally on the floor [urinating] in water bottles,” he said. “It [stinks] when that happens and I can’t pick up kids or do any of that.”
I don’t mind paying him the money (although I’m not sure a college education is worth that much these days) but I just don’t want to see him dying on the ice. So I’m fine with retirement, I’m fine with LTIR.
Good Christ – a man needs to make millions of dollars a year for many years in order to pay for his children’s “prohibitively expensive” college tuitions???What an inane statement!
These teams have never won a Stanley Cup:
Buffalo Sabres 53 years
Columbus Blue Jackets 23 years
Florida Panthers 30 years
Minnesota Wild 23 years
Nashville Predators 25 years
Ottawa Senators 31 years
San Jose Sharks 32 years
Seattle Kraken 2 years
Vancouver Canucks 53 years
Winnipeg Jets 33 years
(I did mental math to get years so may be off a year or two)
We have a Cup. A very recent Cup. We have a President’s Trophy. We have Ovi and all his incredible records. We have Willy, most beloved by the refs and Toronto DOPES. Our AHL club won the Calder last year and their version of President’s this year.
Would you trade with one of those 11 teams?
No, and I wouldn’t trade with the following teams, either:
Toronto hasn’t won a Cup since the year The Beatles released Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Philadelphia hasn’t won one since Aerosmith released Toys in the Attic. The Islanders haven’t won one since The Police released Synchronicity. Calgary hasnt won one since Guns N Roses released Appetite for Destruction. Edmonton hasn’t won a Cup since
Nirvana released Nevermind. Montreal hasn’t won a Cup since Rush released Counterparts.The Rangers haven’t won one since REM released Monster.
Classic rock has come and gone since many teams have won a Cup.
I recognized the Beatles.
Lot of effort, little skill. 4-3 at 5-on-5 over the last 3 games, special teams – better not look in that department.
Too bad it has to end, but it was a worthwhile season. And I’m even glad its ending might force management to work harder and make something happen. TIMPO. Too much staying on the sidelines on their part.
Looking forward to seeing what gets done now, and then to next season!
I think that management will make a splash in the UFA department. I figure, when you subtract Kuznetsov’s $3.9 mill, and Pacioretty’s performance bonus, that the team should have somewhere about $9-10 million to spend.
Notable UFAs, at this moment, are:
Guentzel, Elias Lindholm, Sam Reinhart, Matt Duchene and a few others.
But the most intriguing to me is former Cap Chandler Stephenson. If they don’t wanna get bogged down with a long contract, like they’d have to do with Reinhart or Guentzel, then they can go to the budget bin and sign Stephenson, who makes a lot of sense to sign.
I haven’t run the numbers, but I would figure some of these players would be prohibitively expensive. E.g. Reinhart. And it’s not like they’re one-man shows the likes of Marner or McDavid. You would still have to surround them with properly skilled teammates, and by then, whoops, there’ll be no more cash in the wallet. But yeah, it would be interesting to see what the FA market looks like.
As for Stephenson, I regretted very much when he was dealt to Vegas, and then for a long time after that. But this season… I dunno, it feels like he may be past his prime. Maybe due to injuries, or just no longer as driven and nimble, it seems like he’s no longer a clutch player, has lost the edge in some ways. Maybe next season he will rebound (and yet, he’s not really having it in the first round now, either), but betting on him long-term… I’m not so sure. Do we need another 15+ goal scorer with downside potential as he ages? Think we need a lot more from whoever we’re going to acquire. But then we hit the ceiling again all too quickly… As I said, I haven’t run the numbers yet, but just intuitively, we need a 25+ goal scorer and a new 20+ goal scorer or genius passer to build a team on.
Any Caps fan that doesn’t buy into what I’ve said for last few years that the GM needs to be gone rebuild start,you’re in a fool’s paradise!!
Yeah you want Ovie to get goal scoring record,but honestly did most of you watch how he played without the puck this season? Most of the time he’s “gliding “ on shift,the Ovie of old was always moving,pumping those legs & making scoring chances happen! Not anymore.
Carlson needs to be “old yeller’d”,nowhere near being 1-2 top defensive pair,should be smart enough to step back & let more effective players get chances!
Backstrom needs a buyout not LTIR!,he is not an active NHL player why keep him just as locker room cheerleader for Ovie??
Lastly with your owner planning on moving into “new” building wouldn’t Cup calibre team be best way to fill it,not a team hanging onto every loose thread to try & be competitive? Look at Hershey,team that’s learned how to win & succeed together & challenge for title on regular basis isn’t that what parent club should be doing as well?
Dude I hear you and have been saying the same since pre-season. Caps fans online dropped the ball in holding GMBM accountable. To them, you and I are just the mean bad guys on the internet who make their playing pretend safe space uncomfortable.
GMBM is the worst GM this franchise has ever had. He had one job maintain the Caps roster and failed miserably. You could tell Ovie knew the Caps making the playoffs was an embarrassing joke. If I’m Ovie , GMBM goes and a new GM is brought in from outside the Capitals organization or I ask for a trade. GMBM will forever be known as the GM who ruined the last years of Ovie’s career.
That will be his legacy.
What more did anyone expect from this team?
Of course we made the playoffs because the smart teams looked to the future and did not. Smart kids in the sped class. The last few regular season games the other teams were playing to lose….the Caps were not good lol
Caps fans if you learned anything this season it should be when the clubs GM is drunk passed out at the wheel, get out of the car. That means don’t be zombies and still buy tickets, don’t be programmed zombies and still watch on TV. You have to know when to hold GM’s, coaches and players accountable as a fan base, not subscribe to emotional ploys like “the teams spirit” will pull them through, remaining positive like that is retarded and if you are retarded fan, you were very much part of the problem with this year.
This entire seasons Caps message boards should been angry, negative places to visit on the internet so Ted who obviously has zero clue why, what just happened to the Capitals happened would know the fan base was disgusted. Not because the Caps exited the 1st round, but because the team was setup to fail from the start. The Caps team that GMBM allowed to step foot and remain on the ice most of the year. Backstrom should have been hauled off the ice much sooner and several trades should have taken place.
So any smiley happy go lucky Caps fans who are “really sad that their Capitals lost” you helped make this loss a reality by showing up yelling “Go Caps” every night instead of letting the incompetent GM know that he was being incompetent!
For that I award you the Zombie Loser Cup!
Enjoy!
Over 35 years, I have never been a negative Caps fan, that is until I saw the team GMBM allowed to step on the ice this season. I knew my job from that point on was to make noise and be negative on the internet. Sadly more people wanted the dopamine rush of playing pretend all year and the Caps as a business loves that and it fueled this 1st round exit further.
You know how they say in the playoffs the fans can be that 6th player on the ice by how loud they cheer? Well that road works both ways and this year the Washington Capitals fan base let their club and players down by not holding accountable the incompetent GMBM in a way that Ted noticed and was forced to act on.
Go Caps!!!! Right?
That’s the true “spirit”
Maybe next year I will come back and have reason to be nicer with my posts.
In closing, I would like to thank and commend the Nova Caps blog owner and writers on all the hard work they put in this season. The reporting is very non bias and upbeat yet remains honest like it always does.
The Caps fan base that needs to grow a pair and respond better.
Shout outs to Kuzy and Orlov, looks like they were not the problems after all :o)
“GMBM will forever be known as the GM who ruined the last years of Ovie’s career.”
Sorry, as much as I dislike GMBM, that is wholly owned by Ovi himself. I’m tired of all of the excuses. Ovi is the one who came to camp grossly out of shape and other than a brief stretch after the all-star break, really didn’t play well at all, in every aspect of the game. Any other player on any other team would have been benched for his lackadaisical effort (if you can even call it that).
No, no – don’t come back next year! Your comments are inane, simplistic and entirely appropriate to an entitled GEN Z’er – always looking for someone to blame. For those of us old enough to have witnessed the building of the 2018 team and the very good Caps teams before them, we know that this day was coming. Good, it’s over. Now the rebuilding can begin in earnest.
Yeah we know, Druid, this is the same rant you always post.
Get back on your meds, you’ll feel better
You’ve gotta win a game. Getting swept is so lame. The guys put a lot of hard work in and have nothing to show for it.
My biggest complaint is our D corps. Jensen has tons of heart and seems like a good man. TVR plays a similar style with less overall skill. I didn’t really mind them on cheap contracts as bottom pair guys. But then BMac signed both players for term. Their weak, smallish, less-than-average skill define what the Caps D is now. Sandin and Fehervary are a little more skilled but only a little. Carlson is a rock back there but plays way too many minutes. BMac traded Dillon away to keep Jensen annd TVR away from the Kraken. Really?!
BMac knows how important toughness in your D corp is. He signed Orpik. He brought in Chara. Jensen and TVR over Dillon makes no sense. That’s a blunder.
The Caps haven’t done well drafting D in recent years. Fehevary is a good player. Lucas Johanson is a fringe NHLer at best. Alexeev…I haven’t totally given up on him but he made a lot of gaffes this year. Iorio looks like a top 4 RD.
We were never supposed to make the playoffs this year. I can’t be mad at BMac for that. He has made a lot of good moves: Carbery, Lindgren, dealing Mantha, Kuzy, Edmondson.
I didn’t like when they moved Dillon either but, and you can go check old articles and history, but I distinctly remember that Bmac had to move Dillon out to free up the cap room to sign Ovi. I get you though. Why he wanted such a small D is beyond me. He really should have shown some stones and gave Orlov the 7 million per instead he signs Jensen and TVR to 7 million total. I hated this at the time.
Sorry forgot to log in. I responded to you here. 😉
By my account, this is the first Caps’ sweep since the Finals of 1998. For what that’s worth.
BTW the Caps have NEVER swept another team, in a 7 game series.
Fehervary is only good ?
COMON this kid finally deserves some recognition from Caps fans.
He has been best out there in the most important moments at the end of the season and carried pretty much the most difficult roles in D….way more than those experienced
He is way more than good……he is growing every year.
His deal was a pure steal
Agree. You could argue he had the best series among caps. Particularly on defense.
The Ovie elephant in the room…
Man, Ovie is the greatest Capital of all-time. He made bone-crushing hits and scored in almost every game. He was a joy to watch and a joy for everyone in the Caps family. For 20 years!
Father Time has slowed Ovie down. He cannot be the player he was. It’s over. I’m sorry. But it was soooooooo fantastic to have him.
So Gretzky’s goal record…for me, it’s a circus sideshow now. Ovie knows and we all know that the Caps are not going to compete in a meaningful way for years. I’m ok with Ovie going for the record if it doesn’t interfere with the rebuild. The reality is that he’s ready to retire from the NHL. You can see it. He isn’t one of the guys anymore. He just doesn’t play an NHL level game any longer.
Agreed
For sure
Put me down for a yes vote
but it DOES interfere with the rebuild and there is no way around that for this season and until he retires.
gudas and seigenthaler would surely help this defense
We owe Lavi for the Siegenthaler departure.
Ugh. I’m still bitter about that.
Coming up on the 50th Anniversary of the Caps franchise … PD Fan is upbeat after a downbeat final series. Lifecycle location of the Caps is approximately one-third of the way through major rebuild of the team. A bunch of competing teams, much further along in the process, went home empty-handed weeks ago at the end of the regular season
Humiliating defeat for sure — and an EXCELLENT learning example for bright young stars like McMichael, Lapierre (spectacular clutch goal!), Malenstyn, and a bunch of others. They all got a taste of the realities of Caps Hockey — The Commie Commish doesn’t like the franchise, nor the franchise player. Caps get short-shrift in Zebra calls all through each season. And despite Commie Batmann’s best efforts, the NHL is returning to its violent roots. Embrace it!
And the Caps made it to the Dance after dumping big-time at the trade deadline. That speaks well for players and coaches. And all those INJURIES! All these young-uns can appreciate the War Of Attrition which is the NHL. If you’re an injured team, you lose
Very eventful off-season coming up! POHO Mac has his detractors, but he and Ross Mahoney will perform GREAT THINGS in the trade / draft roster Olympics between now and Opening Day 2024 in October. No hanging of heads! Let’s Go Caps!
Rival Caps site: “Capitals may try to move Darcy Kuemper over the offseason” … No kidding!
Every NHL team has bad contracts. The Caps have both Oshie and G35 that are glaringly stale, and very expensive. POHO Mac has shown the ability to move bad contracts. Kuzy and Mantha the most recent examples, although Mantha found his form again. Backstrom was the worst of them all … and Mother Nature intervened on that problem
I’m confident that POHO will find a taker – or 2 or 3 – for G35 Kuempster. There are ALWAYS several NHL teams utterly desperate for goaltending, anything better than the leaky sieves they’ve got!
It’s at least somewhat interesting that the “Move Kuemper” sentiment has hit the Caps Internet, not 18 hours after their elimination game. It’s possible that G35 could thrive on an established team in the “Mature” phase of their roster cycle. He was there a few seasons ago with COL and came home with a Stanley Cup
Now we suffer with Rip Van Capital and wait for ANOTHER long, hot summer to give way to roster hope
EGAD! Another one bites the dust: Dave Hakstol gets CANNED as the Seattle Kraken head coach. Yep, it was ALL HIS FAULT that the team faltered after achieving Round Two of last season’s playoffs. Much like VGK … You’re not a real NHL franchise until you’ve Fired the Coach at least once!
Hakstol. Woodcroft. Evason. Berube. Smith. Lambert. McLellan. Ruff. Granato. Quinn. [Three with Caps experience, lemme know if I missed somebody]. Almost guaranteed that Sheldon Keefe will join the list this week
Two guys on that list I think are dubious as “NHL caliber” and I’ll leave that as an exercise. But it sure illustrates the “New NHL” a la Bettman: Too many franchises, not enough high-end talent … and the only outlet for management’s fury is to Can the Coach
Here’s Nausea for you: Gerard Gallant and Joel Quenneville sit on the sidelines, unemployed. More EXCREMENT from Gory Batmann’s Flying Circus
Last I looked Gabby is also still on the bench waiting to be called up.
Looks like Sullivan is safe.
The Washington Capitals, the National Hockey League affiliate of the Hershey Bears, announced today that they have loaned forwards Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko, defensemen Vincent Iorio, Lucas Johansen, Dylan McIlrath, and Hardy Haman Aktell, and goaltender Mitch Gibson to the Bears.
A competent “defense” of the Calder Cup title would take some of the sting out of the ugly series against Rags. Let’s Go Bears
If you don’t want to go thru hockey withdrawals too early, then you can follow the WHL playoffs, with 2022 third round pick Alexander Suzdalev playing for the Saskatoon Blades, and free agent signee Zac Funk with the Prince George Cougars. Either stands a pretty good chance of making it to the Memorial Cup.
And of course the Bears are defending their Calder Cup. The draft is June 28-29, the the UFA frenzy on July 1.
Still awhile till we have to go cold turkey.
Thanks Mouse! Sudzy and Funky can put little black disk into opponent’s net. Hope to see them at Training Camp, along with a whole bunch of scoring forwards on the Hershey roster
The Capitals joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season making this past year their 50th (if you count the lockout). Ted is planning some sort of expansion of the Wallet in DC. Now is the time to start a Caps Hall of Fame. This is especially important as players like Ovi and Nicky and Osh age and leave the game or just hang on. Events surrounding it could bring in fans who might not come for a middling team.
The CHoF would be able to honor more than just players, although we have many that I thought the Caps would have honored by now. Abe, Gabby, Joe B when he retires, all would be eligible. The criteria is not what they have done for hockey or even the NHL but for the Caps organization. A Caps committee would offer a slate of candidates each year and Caps fans would vote. Maybe season ticket holders get two votes. Maybe former Caps players get three. You don’t want just honorees fresh in peoples’ minds. Caps employees I never saw play or even heard of in the early organization shouldn’t be left out. But in 50 years, there are a lot of people who have contributed to the team we know and love today. It’s time the Caps honored them.