If this is the end of Alex Ovechkin’s Stanley Cup-chasing era, then it ended in almost-fitting fashion.
Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record captivated the hockey world and transcended the sport.
Yet, Ovechkin’s pursuit of a second Stanley Cup championship ended in an almost-too-familiar fashion with another second-round playoff loss — when the Washington Capitals lost 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference second round Thursday.
“It’s tough,” Ovechkin said of the season ending. “We have a special group.”
Though the Caps qualified for the second round for the first time since their Cup-championship year of 2018, this was the seventh second-round playoff series loss for the Caps in the Ovechkin era. It was the 10th time Washington was eliminated at home in a playoff series.
Familiar Feeling
The Capitals scored the second-most goals in the NHL this season (289), but when it for their offensive stars to step up, they wilted.
Washington scored just seven goals in five games and three over its final three losses. The Hurricanes smothered the Caps, since no player had more than one goal or two points in the entire series.
“They’re a good team and a tough opponent,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “They’re as good a team as there is in this league.”
Aliaksei Protas, who scored a career-high 30 goals in the regular season, struck for the series’ first goal then didn’t find the net again over the final 279:13. Tom Wilson, who set a career high with 33 goals, scored his only marker into an empty net in Game 2. Ovechkin’s only tally was a power-play goal that cut a two-goal lead to 3-2 in Game 3.
“We had our chances,” Ovechkin said. “We didn’t execute. Luck wasn’t on our side, maybe.”
Goalie Logan Thompson only allowed 13 goals, but several were backbreakers, including Andre Svechnikov’s series-clincher, scored from the half-wall with just 2:01 left in regulation.
Future is Murky
The 2024-25 Capitals season was an overwhelming success despite how it ended.
A season after getting unceremoniously swept by the New York Rangers in the 2024 playoffs, Washington improved by 20 points in the standings. It won the Metropolitan Division and rolled the Montreal Canadiens to qualify for its first playoff-series win in eight years.
Plus, Ovechkin’s turn-back-the-clock campaign — his 44 goals were the most in three years, even though he missed 17 games due to a broken leg — reminded the hockey world of what the superstar was capable of.
“For him to come back and play the way that he did and chase down this record and the start that he had, breaking his leg, and coming back from that and continuing to not only do the things he did individually and lead our team,” Carbery said, “he was fantastic this year. He did what he came back to show and prove. I tip my cap to O.”
But being swiftly eliminated by Carolina leaves the future in uncertain fashion, especially for the Capitals. Everything broke right in their 111-point season, plus the Rangers were in shambles, the New Jersey Devils were riddled by injuries and the Columbus Blue Jackets were mourning the loss of Johnny Gaudreau.
None of that should be expected to continue next year.
Ovechkin has just one more year left in the NHL — the final season of his five-year, $47.5 million contract — before he reportedly intends to play at home in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.
He will turn 41 on Sept. 17, and next season is more likely to become Ovechkin’s farewell tour than another Washington push at the Cup — though Carbery was even asked if he expects the captain to return for his 21st NHL season, 2025-26.
“My understanding is he’s under contract, so he’ll be back next year,” Carbery said.
Yet, even Carbery’s final assessment of the season harkened memories to those Cup-less years in the past.
“It’s awful,” he said. “Because you did feel that this team was capable of doing something special. We knew we had our work cut out for us, but we believed, and this group will never be together again.”
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