As unbelievable as it may seem, we are fast approaching the five-year anniversary of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win. To celebrate, over the next two months we’re going to be taking you on a journey back in time to that magical run – reliving every game, five years to the day from when it was first played.
So strap in for the ups and downs, highs and lows, all leading up to a celebration of the greatest moment in franchise history.
Follow along with all of our “Five Years Ago Today…” recaps here.
The Series:
Eastern Conference Round 1 – Capitals (2) vs. Blue Jackets (7); Caps lead, 3-2
[Caps All-Access Game 5]
The Setting:
April 23, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH
Game in a Nutshell:
Once trailing 0-2 in the series, the Caps headed into Columbus on this Monday night in April up 3-2, looking to close out the series and advance to the second round.
It wouldn’t be an easy task…but let’s face it, no part of this series was easy.
Things got off to a good start, a little over halfway through the first period, when Dmitry Orlov got the puck at the point and then made some fancy moves through the Columbus zone to get himself into a good shooting space. And shoot he did, rifling a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky and giving the Caps a 1-0 lead.
The goalies traded a couple of big saves over the rest of the period, but all was quiet until Nick Foligno joined the party just under nine minutes into the second, breaking into the Caps’ zone and firing one through Braden Holtby to knot up the score at 1.
The Caps weren’t about to let Foligno and the Jackets celebrate for too long, though, as about four minutes later Brooks Orpik put a shot on net, the rebound bouncing right to Alex Ovechkin, who backhanded it home for the one-goal lead and his 50th career playoff goal.
And then the Jackets did what they’d been doing all series. No, not scoring another goal (that would come later) – taking another penalty. The Caps had already scored eight power-play goals in this series heading into Game 6… and the captain, from his office, made it nine for the series and 3-1 Caps for the game.
That was the score heading into the locker rooms after two, but no one who had watched a minute of this series should have been thinking that score would hold. The Caps would need to be ready for the biggest Columbus pushback yet, as they clung to their season – and that was what they got. For the second-straight game, the Jackets came out of the locker room fired up and throwing everything at the net, and it paid off. Matt Calvert gets away with a pretty blatant trip on Christian Djoos behind the net, and finds Pierre-Luc Dubois in the slot. Dubois buries it, and it’s back to a one-goal game.
Any momentum the Jackets might have gotten from that goal, however, would be squashed moments later by none other than Devante Smith-Pelly, who got a breakaway and made it count with a dart over Bobrovsky’s glove hand. And about 90 seconds later, with Djoos in the penalty box, Jay Beagle chipped the puck up ice to send Chandler Stephenson in on a shorthanded break… and he scored. That’s a 5-2 dagger, folks.
Sure, Nick Foligno would score a few minutes later to restore the two-goal cushion, but that would be it for the Jackets – and an empty-netter by Lars Eller in the game’s dying seconds would seal the deal. Final score: Caps 6, Blue Jackets 3. Series over.
Nothin’ left to do but shake hands:
It’s a cliché, but it’s true: the fourth win in a playoff series is the hardest one to get. We’ve seen different incarnations of Caps teams run into this issue and fail to close out teams when given the chance, letting series leads slip away time and time again. So the 2018 squad’s determination to take care of business in Columbus, against a Blue Jackets team that was proving to be a tough out, was just the first of many times in this postseason run when something just felt… different.
Of course, with Pittsburgh waiting down the road, we all had to hope that was the case. Because here we go again.
Condensed Game:
Defining Moment:
DSP with the eventual game-winning goal.
They Said It:
“There was no panic. We knew that we’d have to take one game at a time. . . . We started believing more. We could see everybody stepping up and playing great hockey and give us success.” – Alex Ovechkin
“We’ve had lots of different adversity through this year than maybe in the past. We’ve grown up a little bit in some ways that we understand our core group is really, really strong. They believe in each other.” – Barry Trotz
“The better team won.” – John Tortorella
Additional Reading:
- Caps Shed Jackets in Six [Vogs]
- Capitals-Blue Jackets Game 6: Washington wins series; Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby next [WaPo]
- Capitals advance with Game 6 win against Blue Jackets [NHL]
- Ovechkin hopes Capitals can find redemption against Crosby, Penguins [NHL]
- No doubt: Capitals’ Braden Holtby kept his confidence amid a season of struggles [WaPo]
- Well, the Caps sucked me in again. I should know better, but I guess I don’t. [WaPo (Steinberg)]
I miss the japers comments section. All others stink. Hopefully this ramps backup come October! I already see slight improvements daily checking in and notice the dot com is back!
Oh goodness. The conflicting feelings of joy at beating Columbus paired with dread-tension at facing the Penguins yet again. But it had to be that way.
Bringing back all the playoff memories. FB brought a few of them back. After Game 6, I posted a “Goodbye Columbus” movie poster in honor of the Caps eliminating the Blue Jackets. I also posted a picture of the one time we went to Columbus. It was back in 1985, when they were having a family reunion for my husband’s family. There were 4 babies at the time, including my baby. (Fun fact — the reunion took place about 2 months before Ovechkin was born.)
In addition to the great write-up, thanks for the link to the Dan Steinberg article. He really did capture what it meant to be a Caps fan, pre-Cup:
EXACTLY! Basically, a long-winded way to say “JONX!”
I appreciate these posts and I know you guys are taking some time, but is there any way we could get a daily post to talk about the playoffs? Nothing fancy, just a place where we could talk about what’s going on and how much we hate the Islanders/Rangers/Leafs/Boston, etc.
Agree. Would definitely concur on disliking the Isles and Rangers. But dislike the Isles worse.
For the other conference, I never have liked the Kings and they now seem to have this Team of Destiny feel to them. I would likely root for any the current teams alive in the East (except the Isles) against the Kings. Generally speaking, if I’m rooting for the Kings, they are playing either Pittsburgh, the Islanders, or the Chicago Blackhawks.
Anyone use reddit? Can discuss there.
Agreed – we didn’t even get a chance to talk about the departure of Lavi (and Blaine!).
I’ve been watching a lot of the playoffs, some very good series thus far.
TB looks done. I think they’ve run out of gas after so many years of playoff success.
Such conflicted feelings. First one is Tampa fatigue. Go, good riddance, please. Second one – while I am all in favor of Toronto at least getting out of the first round, I think Caps fans can feel vindicated that they aren’t doing it on the back of their goalie. He’s been… not good. Well, he’s been Sammy – you get the bad with the good. Highlight reel saves and poor tending.
100%. I’ve really developed a good hate for Tampa, particularly how they always goon it up when they know they’re going to lose. Not crazy about the Leafs, but I’ll be happy if they beat the Bolts and wipe that smug smirk off Cooper’s face.
Was actually just thinking we should start doing a daily playoff open thread – could definitely whip something up.