Penguins Eliminate Capitals. Again.

The Washington Capitals would probably like the road to the Stanley Cup Championship to go through anywhere besides Pittsburgh. The Capitals had faced the Penguins eight times in the Stanley Cup playoffs in the past and lost seven of those series. They played each other in the second round this year, but this time Washington, a talented team with a deep bench, had the best regular season record in the NHL. The Capitals were favored to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, but to do that they had to get past their historic nemesis in Pittsburgh.

Washington won the first game of the series, but the Penguins won the next three. The Capitals won Game 5 at home, staving off elimination and sending the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 6. The Penguins got off to a 3-0 lead following a pair of goals by Phil Kessel and one by Carl Hagelin. T. J. Oshie got Washington on the board late in the 2nd Period, making it 3-1 at the second intermission.

Things got interesting in the third period. Justin Williams scored Washington’s second goal of the game. Then the Penguins looked like they were imploding, committing three delay of game penalties for shooting the puck over the glass in a space of about 2 1/2 minutes. John Carlson scored on a power play, and it was tied 3-3, a score that held as regulation expired.

So Washington was still alive, and seemed to have some momentum. But these were the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that had a red hot second half of the season after a poor start, and a team that had ended Washington’s post season seven out of eight times in the previous 25 years.

Make that eight out of nine times. Nick Bonino scored at 6:32 of overtime, and Pittsburgh won the game 4-3 and the series 4-2. The Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will face the defending East champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Washington will now go into the off season pondering just what it is they have to do to get to the next level. If it’s any consolation, the Presidents’ Trophy Winner (awarded to the team with the best regular season record) hasn’t had much success lately in winning the Stanley Cup. Since the 2002-3 season, only the 2007-8 Detroit Red Wings and 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks have won both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup. The Capitals also won the Presidents’ Trophy in the 2009-10 season only to lose in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to the Montreal Canadiens.