The Washington Capitals were heavily considered the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, but their season came to an abrupt end on Tuesday night at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Nick Bonino buried the series-clinching goal in overtime of Game 6 in Pittsburgh, propelling the Penguins to a conference final matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It wasn’t an easy finale for the Pens, who relinquished a 3-0 lead over the Caps in Game 6 before squeaking out the victory in OT.
The odds seemed to be favoring the Caps when Jay Beagle made this absurd season-saving stick save in overtime:
But, alas, Washington wasn’t able to pot a tally to force a decisive Game 7 before Bonino wrapped things up minutes later.
For the Caps, it’s another disappointing postseason finish following a fantastic regular season. They were this year’s Presidents Trophy winners and had the top seed in a seemingly weak Eastern Conference, so many expected this year to be their year. Now, it’ll once again be another long offseason trying to figure out how to capture the postseason success that has eluded them recently.
