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New York Times
17-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What's next for the Capitals after a memorable 2024-25 season ends early?
WASHINGTON — A handful of minutes after their season ended, some of the most important Washington Capitals players had already started to turn the page. It's not that Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and coach Spencer Carbery were solely future-focused after the Carolina Hurricanes eliminated them in the fifth game of their second-round series Thursday night; there was still plenty of evident frustration and disappointment over how things had gone down. How couldn't there be? None of them had enough time to grab a shower, let alone fully process the premature end to months' worth of work. Advertisement Still, the overall vibe in Capital One Arena was laced with equal parts sadness and optimism, and that made sense. The 2024-25 Capitals season was highly memorable and fairly successful. What comes next is in the eye of the beholder. The optimist will see a group that went from the fringes of the playoff discussion to the top of the Eastern Conference, primarily on the backs of players whose best hockey would seem to be in front of them. Strome, a point-per-game center in his age-28 season, is in that group. He deserves to be. 'A lot of us in here, (it's our) first time winning a playoff round and something to build on,' Strome said. 'A lot of us are here for the future and for a while. So it's something to build on. And of course it stings.' Wilson, a one-of-one force on the wing who had something of a mid-career renaissance in his second season back from ACL surgery, feels the same. 'I guess that's the one kind of silver lining,' he said. 'We can be excited about the future. A lot of good teams play a lot of good hockey at this time of year and fall short. And we got tested in this series. And we're going to learn from it and do the best that we can moving forward. Learn from it, build on it. We got a great foundation.' Wilson nailed it, though. The lining is silver — kind of. If you're invested in the Capitals, there should be at least some degree of concern over the repeatability of the overall procedure. Here's an early look at what could come next for Washington. Overall, consider it a warning against planting yourself too firmly on either side of the line — because a wide range of outcomes are going to be in play for 2025-26. In two seasons on the job, Carbery has dragged an overmatched, undermanned roster into the 2024 playoffs, then overseen its growth into a legitimate contender — navigating, all the while, a once-in-a-generation record chase by an NHL icon. Young players have emerged under him. Key players have improved dramatically. The team has, too. And it all happened in an environment that, with a less steady hand at the wheel, would've capsized the boat. He's almost certainly going to win the Jack Adams this summer, and it should be for the second time. Advertisement 'You hope that guys learn from this,' he said Thursday. 'And you hope it doesn't take seven years to get to the Cup finals. But it is a process. And you got to learn how to win this time of year. And you got to learn how to score goals this time of year. You got to learn how hard it is to win on the road and how slim the margins are. Every little puck touch, every little mistake, every power play, penalty kill. 'So I am optimistic of the group and the new players that came in this year that will be returning next year about where this group potentially can go in the future.' When the Capitals acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Los Angeles Kings, he was a distressed asset. Best-case scenario, it would seem, was that he'd play like a passable No. 2 center. In the regular season, he was closer to a passable No. 1, thanks to some high-end two-way minutes with Wilson as his primary running mate. If that's who he is, the Caps will be in great shape. Jakob Chychrun, 27, had the best season of his career, scoring 20 goals, putting up 27 assists and earning a big-time new contract ($9.0 million AAV for eight seasons). Carbery and his staff put Chychrun in a position to succeed, feeding him lots of relatively easy minutes with sturdy partners, and he hit them out of the park. His skill with the puck on his stick, whether it's on breakouts or in the offensive zone, started to shine through after some time in the wilderness with the Arizona Coyotes and Ottawa Senators. Like Dubois, he played like a legitimate building block. A little more generally, the fact that president Brian MacLellan and general manager Chris Patrick identified those two as worthy gambles bodes well for future offseasons. Wilson, 31, has never been better. He set career highs in goals (33) and assists (32), and he did it while playing substantive, effective two-way minutes on a line with Dubois. Not many players league-wide can impact games like he can. It's also worth noting that, two years out from his ACL tear, his skating still looks just fine and he's very clearly the team's emotional fulcrum. He has matured into a vocal, responsible leader who makes life easier on his teammates, and the dressing room seems to be as much his as Alexander Ovechkin's, at this point. Advertisement Strome isn't a perfect player, but he's plenty good. In his third year with the Capitals, he produced like a legit first-line center, showing offensive creativity at five-on-five and on the power play. If this is where his development maxes out, he'll still be a valuable piece. Aliaksei Protas may or may not have another 30-goal season up his sleeve, but the 24-year-old seems a safe bet to, at minimum, give Washington productive two-way play along the middle six. He's huge, skilled and versatile. Connor McMichael, with 26 goals in his third full NHL season, would've been the breakout forward on most other teams. He's not the potential total package like Protas, but he looked particularly strong as an offensive element alongside Dubois and Wilson. For the first few months of the season, Logan Thompson played like a Vezina finalist. When he signed a contract extension on Jan. 27 (six years, $5.85 million AAV), Thompson was near the top of the league in save percentage (.925) and goals saved above expected (18). He regained his footing in the playoffs, helping the Capitals keep the Hurricanes closer than they otherwise would have been. Carbery raves about him, and his teammates do, too. That late-season wobble is a legitimate concern, but there seems to be more good than bad. It'd be unwise to doubt Carbery and his staff's ability to coax even more out of the players currently on the roster. It's also fair to wonder just how much better they're going to get. There are elements of Strome's game that could improve — zone entries, for one — but the guy just had 82 points. What's next for Protas? A 40-goal season? In some ways, Washington should be relieved that Dubois put it together as well as he has; expecting much more would be unwise, if not greedy. It's also worth noting that in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens, his point production flatlined, and against Carolina, his overall game nosedived. Defensively, Chychrun's postseason might've been a bit of a red flag. Martin Fehérváry's injury forced Chychrun to play tougher minutes, mainly alongside John Carlson, and both of their games struggled. Carlson, 35, had a wonderful regular season; in the playoffs, he often looked injured or a step slow. If he's starting to hit the downslope, there should be questions about whether Chychrun is capable of taking over his minutes, full freight. The coaching staff has shown the ability to make players better while maximizing their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses. It's easy to imagine it happening again. At some point, though, the guys at the top of the roster are going to be finished products, and outside of Ryan Leonard, there are no obvious potential impact players behind them on the NHL roster. Here, we have a classic 'two things can be true' situation. We'll start with this: Ovechkin just pulled off one of the most remarkable runs in the history of the sport. At 39 years old, and after breaking his left fibula in the middle of the season, he scored 27 goals in 43 games to set the NHL record for career goals. The finishing ability, clearly, is still there. Advertisement The issue: Down the stretch, especially against Carolina, not much else was. If Ovechkin was gassed, so be it — old, broken fibula, once-in-a-generation record chase, etc. He had valid excuses. If that becomes the norm, though — if he stops scoring at a rate ridiculous enough to justify his issues with keeping the pace at five-on-five or even passively contributing away from the puck — Washington is going to have a pretty serious problem. Carbery deserves a world of credit for putting Ovechkin in a position to break Wayne Gretzky's record and still clock in as a positive overall asset. Still, if the goals dry up, look out. Carbery said Thursday that he expects Ovechkin, who is signed for one more year, to return for 2025-26. His center is looking forward to it, as well. 'It's an honor to get to play with them and see the way he competes and plays and wins battles and scores and does everything for the Caps,' Strome said. 'It's easy to get in line and follow. And who knows how much longer he has left, but we'll still be following as long as he's here.'
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Carolina Hurricanes are a scarily effective team — just ask the eliminated Capitals
WASHINGTON — This series started 11 days ago. So, for the better part of two weeks, the Washington Capitals had to scratch and claw and grind and dip and dive and whistle past the looming offseason. They had to try to convince us — they had to try to convince themselves — that actually, the Carolina Hurricanes were beatable. Their second-round opponent might have been a bad matchup specifically and a good team more generally, but the mountain was scalable all the same. Advertisement And then, after five games separated by a gap that was a foot wide and a mile deep, poof. Thursday night, the Capitals could drop the act. Their season was over, the Hurricanes' season rolled on, and the losing side was free to reflect on just how difficult it was always going to be and how acutely the league's most suffocating team lived up to its billing. Call them ugly, call them boring, call them bad TV — just make sure you call the Hurricanes a brutally effective hockey team. They just made short work of the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed, and those guys seem to agree. The Capitals sounded disappointed, exhausted, frustrated. They sounded, finally, honest. 'I feel like we match up really well against a lot of teams,' Dylan Strome said after Washington's 3-2 loss, 'and obviously, Carolina wasn't one of those teams.' Nobody embodied the Capitals' plight more than their No. 1 center. That's a title, by the way, that's well earned. Strome has spent years going from stalled prospect to a legitimate, capital-G Guy for a playoff team. He's not a perfect player, though; nor are his teammates. Through 82 games, we knew their strong suits and their pressure points. Washington didn't dominate the puck at five-on-five. It often struggled to gain and keep the offensive zone. It relied too heavily on its power play. Those aren't fatal flaws against every good team. But against the Hurricanes? Pretty close. And Thursday, Strome sounded like a guy who knew it all along. 'The way they played just kind of …' Strome trailed off and exhaled through his teeth. 'We didn't get a ton. And (when) they got a goalie that's playing like that and has that kind of confidence and you don't get a ton, it's tough to beat them.' We'll start with that goalie they've got. Frederik Andersen allowed six goals in the series. Six. On 95 shots. Nobody is beating a team with a goalie throwing up a .937 save percentage over five games. Thursday, he was at his best in the first minute of the third period. With the score tied at 1, Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois finally made it behind the Hurricanes' defense. In free and close, he shot the puck into Andersen's pad. 'There's a couple other (saves), but that one in particular,' Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. 'All of a sudden, we have that breakdown, and there's a save. And he bails us out. And that's what great goaltending does for a team, and obviously, we hope that continues.' For the Hurricanes, it might. For Washington, the car is in the garage. Advertisement Ultimately, Andersen made his teammates' work stand up. He's getting credit for it — delayed, maybe, but credit all the same. To boil the result down to goaltending, though, would be to do a disservice to the rest of the roster. It would be reductive and wrong, just like it'd be reductive and wrong to pin it all on the Hurricanes' relentless, all-directions pressure on opposing puck carriers. Faced with that, Washington went from averaging 27 shots a game in the regular season to 19 in the second round. 'They close, obviously, really quick,' Strome said. 'You could probably count on your hand the amount of times we actually set up and got some chances.' Tom Wilson agreed: 'I give credit to their team. They got some players that make it extremely hard on you to generate open space and good looks at the net. They smother you.' It'd be wrong to pin it on their ridiculous penalty kill — even though at one point Thursday night, they had all four of their PKers pushed up into the Capitals' zone. (Who does that?) Strome brought that up, too. Washington scored one five-on-four goal in the series. 'We tried a bunch of different things. And ultimately it's on us that we couldn't figure out how to …' He paused again. 'You shouldn't have to dump a puck on a power play.' It'd be wrong to pin it all on their defensemen's active sticks, though Capitals coach Spencer Carbery gave that its due: 'Their ability to break plays up with their sticks, there's no team in the league like 'em.' And it was Carbery, naturally, who summed it all up. 'I think the main takeaway of this is Carolina is one heck of an opponent. So all the things that we're going to talk about — our shortcomings that we have, whether that be special teams, five-on-five scoring, depth scoring — we can break it all down. The first part you have to look at is not the lack of that from the Washington Capitals. (It's) how the Carolina Hurricanes did that to the Washington Capitals.' They sure did. And they did it quickly. In the end, nobody should be all that surprised.
Toronto Sun
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
Svechnikov breaks late tie, Hurricanes beat Capitals to reach Eastern final
Published May 15, 2025 • 1 minute read Jordan Staal #11 of the Carolina Hurricanes blocks a shot by Dylan Strome #17 of the Washington Capitals during the third period in Game Five of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images WASHINGTON — Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Captain Jordan Staal got his first goal of the playoffs, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including several on Alex Ovechkin. After a give and go with defenceman Sean Walker, Svechnikov's shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle with 1:59 remaining, and that was the difference in a game that was back and forth. Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining. The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential close-out games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind'Amour. They will face either Florida in a rematch of the 2023 East final or Toronto in a reminder of 2002, and the Panthers are up 3-2 with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carolina is 35-7-2 through 82 games and then two rounds when scoring first. Despite an unassisted goal by Anthony Beauvillier and some important saves among the 18 from Thompson, the Capitals saw their season end after finishing atop the conference and the Metropolitan Division and beating Montreal in the first round to win a playoff series for the first time since their Stanley Cup run in 2018. Washington started strong, got a few quality scoring chances but could not get through tight-checking defence to prolong the series. After giving up the back-breaker to Svechnikov, Thompson was pulled for an extra attacker and the Capitals were unable to equalize and let Jarvis get to the loose puck for the empty-netter. Up next Carolina would have home-ice advantage against Florida and open on the road if it's Toronto.
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
The Capitals are chasing the Hurricanes. They may not catch them.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Dylan Strome smashed his stick. Spencer Carbery furrowed his brow. For part of Monday night, the Washington Capitals stunk. For other parts, they tried desperately to remain with the Carolina Hurricanes — and just about did. But think about that for a second. It feels as if the Capitals are merely trying to hold on to this second-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the tips of their fingernails as the Hurricanes rip it away from them. When they're lousy — and there have been times when the Capitals were atrocious — the Hurricanes beat them badly. When they play well, it takes an alignment of the planets to manage sustained possession, much less a goal.
New York Times
11-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What have the Carolina Hurricanes done to Alex Ovechkin?
RALEIGH, N.C. — Watching Alex Ovechkin play hockey in 2025 is an interesting experience. He's not particularly active; his line, in terms of territorial dominance, is not overly effective. His role, perhaps more than ever, is one-dimensional — but that dimension is the most important in the sport. Ovechkin is out there to score goals, and he's still quite good at it. We've all seen the proof. Advertisement So far in the Washington Capitals' series against the Carolina Hurricanes, though, Ovechkin has come up empty. There were chances in Carolina's 4-0 Game 3 win, sure, but not much in the way of sustained pressure. Expecting that from anyone against the Hurricanes, of course, is a big ask, and it's a particular problem for Ovechkin and center Dylan Strome. There's value in the quick-strike game. Washington has seen it firsthand. When you rely on that many eggs going into that few baskets, the risk is real. With Strome and Ovechkin on the ice at five-on-five in the series, Washington has been out-attempted 34-22, been outshot 18-9, been outchanced 18-11 and lost high-danger chances by a margin of 10-6. So it goes in a series against the Hurricanes; for them, pressuring puck-carriers and preventing offensive zone time is a way of life. 'It's tough, right? Because (Strome and Ovechkin are a pair) that relies a lot on entries and creating off of entries. And you're just not going to get very many of those against the Carolina Hurricanes (because of) their gap control and the length and the size of their 'D.' So they have to really, really work in the offensive zone, on the forecheck, to be able to create off of a faceoff play, whatever it might be,' Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. 'You're going to have to beat someone, and that's hard for anyone, but hard for that line as well. So they just have to continue to work. It's not going to be perfect every night.' Carolina's top pair of Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns deserves some degree of credit for handling business on Ovechkin — Burns was noticeable in that role on Saturday — but Slavin made a point to call out the forwards. 'They're back-pressuring really hard so us as a (defense), we can have tight gaps,' Slavin said. 'I think just (taking) away time and space. I know it's cliche to say, but with a guy of that caliber and the shot that he has, you have to take it away.' Advertisement Ovechkin still leads the Capitals in five-on-five shots (7) and individual expected goals (1.17). He hasn't been invisible. He also hasn't been good enough. For better or worse, though, that can turn quickly. Washington — whether it was on Saturday or in November — relies on him for one thing above all else. Pop in a goal or two and all will be well. Simple. Doesn't need to be at five-on-five, either. 'In these series, you have one game where you make a difference offensively, and it could be the difference in the series,' Carbery said. 'And so that's the mindset that I think those guys need to have and will have: You can change a series in one game.' Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour put it well: '(Ovechkin is) gonna get his. Just hope there's not too many of them.' One element to watch as Monday's Game 4 approaches is who the third man on the Strome-Ovechkin line will be. Aliaksei Protas, outstanding in that role during the regular season, moved back up for Game 3 after missing time with an injury, and the results were fine, but Carbery sounded open to some degree of change. Anthony Beauvillier performed well next to Ovechkin and Strome against Montreal. Would he jump back up for Game 4 if that meant dropping Protas and his ready-made, top-six skill set back down the fourth line? Would it be worth messing with the Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson-Connor McMichael line, Washington's best at five-on-five? It's an interesting question. 'The tricky part of that is those guys have been together all year long, essentially,' Carbery said. 'So (if) you're tinkering with things this time of year, you have to be careful. You want to make adjustments, but you don't want to go overboard to do something that the group is completely uncomfortable with and haven't utilized through 90-whatever games we've played this year.' Advertisement • John Carlson had a game to forget — and he sounded like he was pretty close to doing just that. Washington's 35-year-old defenseman was on the ice for all four of Carolina's goals and played a direct role in two of them. On the first, Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov got him flat-footed after Nic Dowd's faceoff win. On the third, Eric Robinson skated past him on the outside to create a wide-open shot on Logan Thompson. 'I think I'm well aware of me and my game and what I'm capable of,' Carlson said. 'And I can be better. I'm looking forward to another chance tomorrow night. I know (there's been) a lot of noise around that, but I'm not worried about it.' Carbery didn't sound overly concerned, either. 'I'm not going to evaluate his postseason performance off of one faceoff play or one game,' Carbery said. 'It's an unfortunate play. He'd love to have that one back, but I don't harp or focus on that. There was a lot of plays that could have gone either way last night.' • Brind'Amour had another good line about Frederik Andersen, who was outstanding in Game 4, stopping all 21 shots he faced, including nine in the first period. Asked if his approach was to check on Andersen, make sure he's feeling OK and get out of the way, Brind'Amour didn't fake it. 'Yep, basically,' he said. 'I don't get involved in too much of that. Listen, we've got guys that take care of that. (Goalie coach Paul Schonfelder) does a great job with the goalies. He kind of tells me how that's going. My conversation with Freddie is just what you said. We don't get technical, ever, about goaltending. I just ask him how he's doing and that's about it. As long as he feels good, he's going to be in there.'
