The surging Tampa Bay Lightning can attest to the highs and lows of the NHL playoffs.
It would be positively stunning if the Washington Capitals don't make some changes going into next season following another early playoff exit. But it's not certain whether that will include Bruce Boudreau no longer being their coach.
A day after Alex Ovechkin and the top-seeded Washington Capitals were swept out of the playoffs, general manager George McPhee said he doesn't anticipate significant changes _ including when it comes to coach Bruce Boudreau.
Coach Bruce Boudreau likes to say that good things happen when your best players play like it. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin are those guys for the Washington Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin stood in one corner of the Washington Capitals’ dressing room with a nasty cut on the bridge of his nose. Brooks Laich stood in another with a dozen stitches running across his chin. Later, Mike Knuble came in and talked about how “emotional” the previous 24 hours had been.
Of all the nights for officials to become part of the story, Bruce Boudreau and the Washington Capitals didn't want it to be this one.
"I was a little bit tired." Scott Hannan, the Washington Capitals' dependable 32-year-old defenseman, wasn't making excuses for his gaffe against the Lightning on Sunday night, for the ill-advised line change in overtime that resulted in Tampa Bay's winning goal. Indeed, he was only too willing to take the blame for the Caps' loss, which put them behind in the series 2-nil heading into Game 3 Tuesday night.
It's all coming unraveled for the Washington Capitals. Eight years in the assembling, Southeast Division champs for the past four, they're the pot that never boils, the firecracker that never goes off.
Poised after 40 minutes to make this a series and ensure a Game 5 Saturday at Verizon Center, the Washington Capitals needed less than a minute to melt down.
