Capitals brush off 2010 comparisons ahead of playoff opener against Canadiens

A 15-year-old nightmare is haunting Capitals fans this spring. In it, the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens upset a promising, top-seeded Capitals squad in the first round. 

That bad dream was a reality in 2010. But the circumstances also fit Washington’s first-round series, which begins Monday. 

The Eastern Conference champion Capitals are heavily favored against the Canadiens, who again hold the eighth seed as the final wild-card team. 

Washington’s high-powered offense and the steady goaltending of Logan Thompson have had the Capitals looking like championship contenders for the better part of the season. 

But Alex Ovechkin’s Capitals have had strong regular seasons before. President’s Trophies didn’t help in 2010, 2016 or 2017. 

The 2010 disappointment is front of mind for Washington fans this week.

Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green led that high-powered Capitals squad to its best regular season in franchise history 15 years ago. The first-round series against Montreal should’ve been a cakewalk.

It wasn’t.

The Capitals’ postseason ended just seven games later. Now-retired Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak is a regular guest star in the District’s hockey nightmares — he saved 94 of the 96 shots against him in the final two games of that 2010 series. 

Fifteen years later, the Capitals are looking to avoid a repeat. 

Ovechkin and defenseman John Carlson are the only players remaining from that series.

They aren’t dwelling on the past.

Ovechkin, who became the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer this month, gave a one-word answer when asked if he still thinks about that 2010 series. 

“No,” he responded, before curtly moving to the next question. 

Washington’s captain — along with his teammates and coach Spencer Carbery — was focused on the present. The current Capitals squad brings an entirely different energy from the world-beaters of 2010. 

This year’s group is a collection of underdogs, Carbery claimed on Sunday. 

This was supposed to be a recalibration year for the Capitals as they elevated young players and allowed free-agent acquisitions to acclimate to the District. 

Most experts didn’t peg the Capitals as a playoff team. 

Even at the midseason break, as the Capitals led the NHL in points, none of Washington’s players were selected to compete in the 4 Nations Face-Off, this year’s replacement for the All-Star game.

“We probably don’t have the most high-end, skilled team,” the coach said. “But we’ve got a group of guys that compete their butts off on a daily basis. They want to win.” 

Carbery’s squad is mired in its worst stretch of the season, though. The Capitals won just two of their last six games, stumbling down the stretch after Ovechkin passed Wayne Gretzky with his 895th career goal. 

The offense has stagnated as the defense struggled to support its goaltenders. 

The injury bug has also bitten the previously healthy club. Goaltender Logan Thompson is a question mark for the upcoming series after missing the last seven games with an upper-body injury.

Charlie Lindgren, who started 38 games for the Capitals throughout the season, would likely fill in if Thompson is unable to return. 

Center Aliaksei Protas is also expected to miss at least Monday’s game as he recovers from a skate cut on his foot. Defenseman Martin Fehervary also missed Sunday’s practice with an unspecified injury.

The Capitals weren’t short on skaters on Sunday. Some of them were just a bit smaller. 

Carbery invited his players’ children to a post-practice skate, allowing many of them to share the ice with their parents before the intensity of playoff hockey takes over. 

“It’s awesome,” defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said of the family-oriented event. “We might lead the league in children.”

Ovechkin’s sons Sergei and Ilya were there, taking shots on goal while wearing customized black jerseys featuring the Capitals’ screaming eagle logo. 

Watching from a knee in the left circle — his favorite goal-scoring spot — Ovechkin greeted each of his sons’ goals with a hearty smile and a fist bump.

“This is the last day that we can spend time with the kids, skate with them. Tomorrow it’s Game 1, and everything’s going to be on lock,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a great thing to do: skate a little bit, enjoy.”

While fans worry about a repeat of the past and Carbery prepares his team for the present, at least one Capital couldn’t help but think of the future. 

Ten-month-old Teddy Wilson, the son of Capitals alternate captain Tom Wilson, was a bit too young to skate on Sunday. The elder Wilson imagined his son donning a Capitals jersey to skate alongside current rookie Ryan Leonard. 

“Maybe Teddy and [Leonard] will be linemates,” he said. “He can be a wily veteran looking out for the rookie.”

Leonard and Teddy Wilson are separated by about 19 years and four months — almost the exact amount of time separating the 20-year-old Leonard from the 39-year-old Ovechkin. 

“It’s funny. It’s just cool to see everyone, the love they have for their kids,” Leonard said Sunday. “Hopefully I’ll get to do that with my kids someday.”

For now, Leonard will have to settle for playing in his first NHL postseason. Washington’s postseason run begins on Monday night at Capital One Arena.