The Washington Capitals kept trying to downplay their own forgettable playoff history
Lamar Jackson Ravens Jersey , the one pockmarked with disappointment and despair. Still, they couldn’t run from it.
No one bore the weight more than Alex Ovechkin. All the goals in the world – and the star forward is at over 600 and counting now – couldn’t take the sting
away from the endless cycle of postseason runs that ended far too soon.
”It’s so hard to move forward some time,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. ”It’s always thrown in your face everywhere you turn. I know it’s thrown in
Ovi’s face everywhere he turns and he’s a great player in this league.”
One who is finally headed to a conference final, with a team few expected to make it this far. The Capitals advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for
only the third time since the franchise’s inception in 1974 with a 2-1 overtime
victory in Game 6 against Pittsburgh on Monday night, a victory secured by
Evgeny Kuznetsov’s breakaway 5:27 into the extra period .
”It feels like something is over,” Kuzntesov said. ”It’s pretty hard to speak.”
Maybe because – for now anyway – Washington’s long-held role as playoff fodder for the Penguins is over. The Capitals beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs
for only the second time in 11 tries by playing a disciplined style dictated by
Trotz, one that focuses on responsibility at both ends of the ice.
The game-winning sequence began with Kuznetsov poking the puck away from Penguins star Sidney Crosby as Crosby tried to enter the Washington zone. The
puck made its way to Ovechkin and he threaded a pass to a sprinting Kuznetsov,
who beat Matt Murray to spark a celebration two decades in the making.
”I don’t want to lie, it tastes a little bit better (beating the Penguins),” Kuznetsov said. ”You know
P.J. Hall Raiders Jersey , I never focus on the history. I only focus game by game. It feels very nice. You keep playing hockey, it’s unbelievable.”
Washington went 1-1-1 against the Lightning in three regular season meetings, the last a 4-2 loss at home on Feb. 20. That was two long months ago, and the
team that celebrated in an equal parts joyous and relieved dressing room on
Monday night doesn’t look like the one that was still searching for its legs in
mid-winter.
Injuries forced the Capitals to put together a patchwork lineup that included a handful of rookies, such as Nate Walker, who became the first Australian to
record a point in the playoffs when he set up Alex Chiasson’s second-period
goal.
”We did have our moment in the first period when we said `Do we have five rookies playing tonight?”’ Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said. ”I thought our
window had closed and we had an old team and we had five rookies. So our future
remains bright and now we just have to focus on the third round.”
Washington will do it with a resurgent Braden Holtby. Benched at the start of the playoffs in favor of Philipp Grubauer, Holtby heads to the conference finals
playing some of the finest hockey of his career. He stopped 21 of 22 shots in
Game 6 and is now 8-3 since Trotz put him back in the lineup.
”Obviously everyone knows the difficulties we had getting out of the second round,” Holtby said. ”But that doesn’t make a difference in our main goal. Our
main goal is still the Stanley Cup. The third round isn’t the Stanley cup. We
have to refocus now. We can enjoy it and use that energy as kind of a recharge
for the halfway point and push full force into the next round because it’s going
to be a hard test.”
One the Capitals believe they’re finally ready to pass. The franchise has only reached the Cup once, getting swept by Detroit in 1998, long before
Ovechkin
Cheap Quenton Nelson Jersey , Holtby and Leonsis came on board. This is their best chance at the club, one they’re intent on not squandering.
”We set goals every year,” Leonsis said. ”Make the playoffs. First round. Second round. Third round and win a championship. So we’re trying to check them
off. It’s almost embarrassing that it’s taken this long for us to get past
it.”
Now that they have – at last, becoming the first professional team in the nation’s capital to reach a conference final since the ’98 Capitals did it –
they’re eager to shed the past. It’s over and done. The future – and the
Lightning – await.
”We beat the Pittsburgh Penguins today and they’re a hell of a hockey team and we’re only halfway,” Trotz said. ”We haven’t done anything yet.”
—
Closer Kyle Barraclough has been exceptional for the Marlins in the last two months, so the novelty of him giving up a run — even in a Miami win — is major
news.
“Claw will bounce back, no worries about that,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said after he gave up the tying run in the ninth, ultimately earning the victory
in a 2-1 win in a series opener against the Rays.
Barraclough had not allowed a run since May 8 — an amazing run of 21 games and 20 2/3 innings with just two hits allowed before Monday, when the Rays
matched that with two hits and the tying run. His season ERA had dipped below
1.00 to 0.99 ERA before that run scored.
“To be able to scratch runs and get pitching Authentic Nick Chubb Jersey , it’s nice to be able to get that win in the end,” Mattingly said of his Marlins (35-51), who have won three of four
games.
The Marlins will try to continue that Tuesday with rookie right-hander Trevor Richards (2-5, 5.06 ERA) on the mound. Richards lasted only four innings in his
last outing, giving up six hits and three runs to Arizona, but he has two wins
in his last four starts, this after having zero wins in his first six starts of
the season.
Richards has never faced the Rays, but his limited work in interleague play has been rough — eight hits and five runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Red Sox
in April, then nine hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings against Baltimore in
June. His interleague record is 0-2 and his ERA is 12.91, with a staggering 17
hits in 7 2/3 innings.
The Rays answer with another rookie who hasn’t faced this team before — Ryne Stanek Austin Corbett Jersey , spectacular as an “opener” with short outings to open games throughout the month of June, was supposed to start Tuesday but
instead got the nod in the 10th inning Monday, surrendering a leadoff walk that
quickly became the winning run off an infield single.
Ryan Yarbrough (7-4, 3.76 ERA) has pitched well coming in after the “opener,” but he’ll get the start now against the Marlins. Much like Richards, he’s
struggled in interleague play, going 0-2 with a 6.60 ERA, allowing 19 hits in 15
innings. His last outing wasn’t bad at all, lasting 6 1/3 innings in relief,
giving up seven hits but only one run in a 1-0 loss to Houston on Thursday.
He’ll likely get a rare chance to bat as well with the game in a National League
park — he’s just 0-for-2 at the plate in his young career.
One-run games have been a major part of the Rays’ season — they’ve played in 37 Cheap Hayden Hurst Jersey , matching the most in the majors, and they’ve lost 21, the most of any team, but Rays manager Kevin Cash said he was optimistic
even when his team was down 2-1 in the ninth on Monday. The Rays had won eight
of nine coming in and will try to bounce back Tuesday.
“The way we’ve been playing, we’ve been getting the big hit,” Cash said. “I think it was going to work out the entire game.”
.
