Will the Caps Choke Again?

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The Washington Capitals have a great track record during the regular season. Last year, they won the President's trophy, which is awarded to the NHL team with the best regular-season record, by 11 points. They drew the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, and beat them in a six-game series. Washington was a popular Stanley Cup Champion choice, and then they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. Pittsburgh did go on to win the Stanley Cup, but this is a recurring incident.
In 2015, Washington was a talented team near the top of the Eastern Conference. Alexander Ovechkin was enjoying an 81-point, 53 goal year. The Capitals again won their first-round matchup against the New York Islanders in seven games, but with only two goals from Ovechkin. Another seven-game series was next against the New York Rangers. Ovechkin would go on to score three in that series, but Washington would lose in overtime of Game 7 on a goal by Derek Stephan.
In the 2014 season, Washington missed the playoffs entirely. Ovechkin was a -35 but still put up 79 points on an abysmal Washington team that finished 17th in the league. Goaltending was not strong, as time was split by an average group consisting of Braden Holtby and Michael Neuvirth.
So what was the problem? The years that Washington has made an early exit (or didn't make an entry), they were one player away. The team didn't have a T.J. Oshie or when they did, they didn't have a Kevin Shattenkirk. So that brings us to the question, is this year the year for the Capitals?

The Capitals look good right now. Really good. They're almost guaranteed to make it through the first round, with a matchup most likely against the Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators. That's when things would get tough, with a matchup against either Pittsburgh or Columbus, both of them red-hot teams. The Capitals have won two out of the four matchups against the Penguins this season by scores of 7-1 and 5-2. Both losses came in overtime. Against the Blue Jackets, the Capitals are 2-1-1, with a game coming tonight.

So the Capitals can hang with the good teams. The playoffs are different, and no team knows that better than the Capitals. But the Capitals are second in the league in goal-scoring and have allowed the least goals in the NHL. They're third-best on the power play and seventh best on the penalty kill. They have four players in the top 50 in points: Niklas Backstrom, Ovechkin, Marcus Johanssen, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Ovechkin is 10th in goals, and Oshie is 14th. How could this team not make a deep run?

Whatever happens in the playoffs, you know the Capitals won't be looking at history. They'll be focused on the game. One thing is for sure-they have a lot of potential. This season could be a great one. As Alex Ovechkin once said, "I live for today".

This could be today.

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