WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — The Capitals took the ice Sunday needing to win Game 5 to avoid an abrupt end to their Stanley Cup Playoff run, but again was no match for the Boston Bruins.
The Caps lost 3-1 and their post-season run ends at Capital One Arena.
Stats show a solid effort from the Capitals, but the final score shows a different story. The Capitals outshot the Bruins 41 to 19 but the Bruins made their shots count. The Capitals also posted more takeaways and tallied 36 hits.
The Capitals entered the third period down 2-0, but in the first 11 seconds of the final period, Conor Sheary scored to make it 2-1 and giving the Capitals a much-needed spark. Then Lars Eller put one past Tuukka Rask but that was quickly washed out, after a goaltender interference call on Evgeny Kuznetsov. Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask finished with 40 saves on the night.
It was on this day exactly three years ago that the Capitals punched their ticket into the Stanley Cup Final, with a Game 7 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. But for the third straight season since winning the Stanley Cup, the Capitals have failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs.
"We just didn't score goals. Obviously, you can see how many shots we had, and how many chances. Overall though, I think it was a good series and an interesting series to play. It's a tough loss though, it's hard," said Capitals captain, Alexander Ovechkin.
The Capitals captain, Alexander Ovechkin, is in the final year of his 13-year, $124 million dollar contract. Last week, when Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis was asked about a contract extension and possible talks to keep Ovechkin, he wouldn't answer, only saying he wanted to focus on the playoffs right now.
After the game, head coach Peter Laviolette spoke about Ovechkin and the possibility of him leaving saying, "Well I'd like to think he's going to be back. This is his team. That's business that gets taken care of at a later date, but Alex is a good person, he cares, he plays hard. This is his team and he feels the disappointment just like everyone else does tonight."