Tuesday brought a sooner-than-wanted finish to Washington's year, even as the Capitals edged Columbus' Blue Jackets by a 2-1 margin. Uneven stretches of hockey, plus injuries that sidelined important contributors, left the club outside the postseason for the very first time with Spencer Carbery behind the bench. At the same time, the 40-year-old Alex Ovechkin may have just skated through his last NHL campaign.
The squad ran its Breakdown Day media availability Thursday at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex. As the afternoon wound down, the roster headed out alongside their captain — possibly for one final occasion — to toast the effort they had poured into a seven-month grind and to share one another's company before everyone scattered ahead of summer.
Sometime between roughly 6:00 and 6:30 p.m., two Caps supporters who also work as area real estate agents — Colby Smythe along with Morgan Samson — came across the players in Tysons. The duo grabbed one frame featuring Ovechkin solo, then a second alongside a cluster that included Charlie Lindgren, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, Tom Wilson, Anthony Beauvillier, Aliaksei Protas, and Rasmus Sandin, who was still sporting a brace on his knee.
Morgan recounted to RMNB that she and Colby happened upon the Caps at the brewery, where the players were marking the occasion and preparing to roll out via party bus.
She also noted the group had been tucked into a reserved area within the venue.
According to Morgan, the two of them were thrilled to spot the team. As the only people out along the curb, she shouted a request for a picture, and Tom Wilson instantly said yes and gathered his teammates to pose, with the entire group striking her as friendly and easygoing.
Washington's skaters have favored the location before — it was here that Nicklas Backstrom once staged his charity event known as Putts & Pucks, held up on the building's 11th-story rooftop, home to a Biergarten and a mini-golf layout.
Any team bonding will have to happen quickly. A handful of Capitals, Ryan Leonard among them, are soon bound for Switzerland, where they will represent their home nations when the IIHF stages its World Championship for 2026. Others mentioned on Breakdown Day that they would stick around the region just a short while longer before heading home to begin their offseason.