“They weren’t even supposed to be there.”
That’s been a common refrain among Capitals fans since the minute the final horn sounded on a rather rude 4-0 series loss handed to the team last night by the Rangers. And it does, for the most part, serve as some sort of comfort – because it’s true. This team, as constructed, as remained by mid-April, was really not supposed to be there. Even as they were making that final push to snag a playoff spot, it didn’t feel real, feel possible, that the 2023-24 Washington Capitals were headed for the postseason.
Against all odds, they did the thing. And then, unfortunately, as quickly as it started… it ended.
Look, losing in the playoffs, whether or not the team was “supposed” to be there, stings. Losing via a sweep is honestly a little embarrassing. And losing to a Rangers team chock full of massively unlikable players, cheered on by annoying fans and coached by a former Caps bench boss who did very little with his time in D.C.? Yeah, that’s going to smart for a bit, whether or not it was expected.
You only had to look at the players’ faces last night, at Coach Carbery’s hilariously terse response to his predecessor in the postgame handshakes, to know that as much as they weren’t supposed to be there, that team knew what they’d gone through to get there – and they were disappointed to have it end, to have an abrupt and unceremonious finale to what has been a wild and crazy year.
Because this season was a ride, y’all.
Sometimes it was a fun ride, the kind that makes your stomach flip in the best possible way and makes you want to hop right back in line and ride it again as soon as it ends…and other times it was like that scary (and thankfully now defunct) alien encounter ride at Disney World, with creepy things breathing on your neck and a general “get me the hell off this thing” vibe. (IYKYK.)
There were the early-season growing pains, when the team went 5-4-1 in their first 10 games. There was the surge to the holidays that found the team in a playoff position for the first time…and the post-Christmas doldrums, when they won just five of 18 games heading into February. There was the trade deadline sell-off of Anthony Mantha and Evgeny Kuznetsov, a power play that was either very, very good or a horrifying disaster, goaltending woes and surprises, and a wild push to the end of the season, with the team punching their playoff ticket on an empty net goal in a tied game in Game #82.
It was only a matter of time before the season came to an end, though, and we knew it would be sooner rather than later. By Game 4 of this series, it was clear that they just didn’t have enough in the tank – mentally, physically, skill-wise, whatever it was, there just wasn’t enough left, even with a valiant last-gasp effort.
And that’s okay. They got into the show by the skin of their teeth and, for four games, gave us a chance to experience the postseason again, an unexpected and mostly welcome surprise – and there were plenty of positives to come out of this, to say nothing of things to look forward to.
Spencer Carbery came in like a breath of fresh air, the right move after a couple of wrong ones behind the bench. The kids stepped up in the regular season and then got their first taste of NHL playoff action – and responded. The team got career years out of a handful of players, most notably Dylan Strome and Charlie Lindgren, and saw Alex Ovechkin turn his season around after a miserable start and put a serious dent in his chase for Gretzky’s record with yet another 30+ goal campaign.
So as much as “they weren’t supposed to be here” rings true, I’m feeling a different saying today: don’t cry because it’s over… smile because it happened (and hell, maybe smile because it’s over, because that was exhausting).
Even though they weren’t supposed to be there, they were. The Penguins weren’t. The Red Wings weren’t. The Flyers weren’t. Despite the odds, despite the goal differential, despite the fact that they sold off pieces at the deadline and were plugging in AHL defensemen like it was their job, the Caps scraped and clawed and fought their way into a playoff spot no one seemed to want – but they did, and they earned it.
It’s okay to be sad that it’s over, but we can certainly still be proud of what this feisty-ass team accomplished, and look forward to better days ahead.