The term, phrase, idea, or notion that the Washington Capitals have somehow exorcised their demons of playoffs past seems a bit dubious. This season will mark the fourth time since 2007 that the Capitals have made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the previous three times they have been soul crushingly sent home. Let's take a painful trip down memory lane:
2009: The #2 seeded Capitals found themselves down 3-1 to the Rangers in the first round, but a goalie change from Jose Theodore to Semyon Varlamov and some post season magic in Game 7 from an aging Sergei Federov gave the Capitals the improbable comeback victory in the series. Varlmov kept his hot streak going in the next round to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead on the Penguins, and everyone believed that it was the Captials' year to make a run. But, alas, the Penguins would take the series seven games and crush the Capitals 6-2 in Game 7 on Verizon Center Ice en route to a Stanley Cup Championship.
2011: The Capitals would gain the best record in the Eastern Conference for the second year in a row, and in the first round of the playoffs they dispatched a Ryan Callahan-less Rangers in five games. The Capitals would have a longer wait to face Tampa Bay in the second round, but everyone thought that the Caps would prevail based on their playoff maturity and the life lessons learned in the playoffs the year before against Montreal. Four games later, The Lightning moved on to the Eastern Conference Finals while the Caps were on the business end of a brutal playoff sweep.
2012: Oh, Joel Ward. Who will ever forget the goal he scored against the Bruins in overtime of Game 7 to push the underdog Capitals past the defending Stanley Cup Champions in the first round? And you probably forgot that it was Joel Ward who took a double minor high sticking penalty with 20 seconds to go in Game 5 of the second round against the Rangers with the Capitals leading 2-1 in New York. Brad Richards would tie it with 6.6 seconds left in regulation, and the Rangers would score on the second half of the penalty in overtime to take a 3-2 lead in the series. The Capitals would force a Game 7, but when you put all of your Game 7 goal scoring in the hands of Roman Hamrlick you're in trouble.
There it is. The Second Round History of the Alex Ovechkin era. It is safe to say that no demons have been exorcised, and they never will be. Not as long as the Capitals perpetually lose in the second round. Not as long as the Rangers hold scoreboard on the Caps the past two playoff meetings. Not as long as Les Habitants can still hold that 2010 series over our heads without any fear of playoff retribution. And not as long as the man who saved The Capitals from the depths of despair almost ten years ago leads The Anaheim Ducks inexorably towards a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The Capitals need to get out of the second round to exorcise the demons that have been plaguing their playoff progress. The Capitals need to beat the Rangers in order to vanquish their newly found playoff nemesis. They would love to defeat the Canadiens to exorcise the demons of 2010. And the NHL would want nothing more that to see an Anaheim vs. Washington Stanley Cup Final if only for the story lines: Boudreau faces his old team, high flying offense vs. bone crunching defense, Perry vs. Ovechkin, Getzlaf vs. Backstrom, Trotz finally making it to the Finals. It all starts on Thursday with Game 1 against the Rangers, where we will see if the Capitals demons still haunt them.
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