Could the Washington Capitals Make a Run to the Stanley Cup Final?

The Capitals are the first seed in the Eastern Conference, and despite the shock it's brought across the NHL, the Caps are to be taken seriously heading into the postseason.

It’s been a whirlwind of a season for the Washington Capitals. One year ago, they made a last-season push to the postseason, and the Washington carried that momentum into the start of the 2024-25 season, where the Caps began 5-1 and 8-2.

“[Washington] making the playoffs last season last year proved something to that room,” Capitals beat writer Christopher Babos of The Hockey Writers recently told the Cool Sports Newsletter. “They learned something, [and we’ve] seen the fruits of that this season.”

Washington has stayed relatively consistent as well, as they closed down the first seed in the Eastern Conference with little struggles. “They’re in a league of their own in the East,” Babos concludes. But will that translate to the postseason? Here are three reasons why it could:

Unrelenting Consistency

Throughout this entire season, everybody has been “waiting all season for the shoe to drop on the Capitals, and they’ve been consistently good,” said Babos. And he’s correct. After a season last year where Washington had the sixth worst goal differential in the league, very few expected significant progression in 2025. But yet, the Caps have come out firing, and haven’t really slowed down. Washington beat elite opponents to open its season that also continued to play at a high level. Those included the 110-point Vegas Golden Knights, 106-point Dallas Stars, 91-point New Jersey Devils and 91-point Montreal Canadiens. They didn’t lose to a team out of the final postseason picture until November 8 when they lost against their rival-Pittsburgh Penguins.

But of course, their preseason projection and 2024 result had fans just patiently waiting for the Caps to return to their ‘normal’ form. But they never did. In Washington’s first 41 games, they went 27-10-4. In their final 41 showings, they were 24-12-5, which included not having nor needing its top goaltender in the final four games of the season, where the Capitals went 1-3 with the first seed locked up. Since the Four Nations Face Off break, Washington has had multiple three game losing streaks (regulation or overtime) after not having any in the first 55 games of the season leading up to the two week rest, where Washington joined the Seattle Kraken with no players participating in the event. Babos, however, attributes this to tough scheduling. “They’ve had tough stints of schedules,” Babos points out. “[Their] scheduling could have been a little bit better.”

Nonetheless, despite some weakness since the break, Washington has overall stayed productive. They’ve been in the playoff picture all season, and their consistency is what helped them build a nine-point lead over any other team in the conference with just two weeks to play. And if the Capitals can sustain that level of stability in the postseason, they’re in for a deep run.

Variety of Options Surrounding Ovechkin

Last postseason, the Capitals were a quick exit for one distinct reason: Ovechkin was shutdown. Former Caps head coach Peter Laviolette for the first seeded New York Rangers a year ago did an excellent job at limiting the captain’s opportunities. He was held without a shot in games one and four, and didn’t total a point in his 15th postseason appearance for the first time in his career. So strategically, it would make sense for their first round opponent Montreal Canadiens or any team to simply take Ovechkin out of the picture, and theoretically would cruise by in the series. However, this Capitals team is much more versatile and multi-dimensional than in previous seasons, and aren’t so reliant on the production from Ovechkin.

Now, Washington has other members who are contributing factors to their top Eastern Conference squad. Dylan Strome is probably a more all-around player, setting career highs in goals, assists, and points, and leads the Caps in assists and points. Tom Wilson has gone from a fearful enforcer to a legitimate contributor, going from an All Star in 2024 to a 33-goal season this past regular season. Strome and Wilson are just two of six Capitals to set career highs in goals this season. John Carlson adds a wicked slap-shot and playoff experience, Jakob Chychrun is one of the best playmaking defensemen in the NHL, Pierre-Luc Dubious has had a career season in his first year with Washington, and Connor McMichael and Aleksei Protas have made major strides; both scored more than 25 goals this year. Even if Protas isn’t available due to injury, additions such as Matt Roy and Logan Thompson have anchored a stronger defensive effort in 2024-25. That stability has led to the seventh most blocked shots of any team this season, allowing the eleventh least amount of opponent shots and goals because of it per StatHead.

Obviously Ovechkin’s 44 goals and 73 points in 65 games have been tremendous, and have exemplified his longevity and impact at 39 years old. However, when Ovi missed 16 games due to a fractured fibula, Washington went 10-5-1, the sixth best record in hockey during the span without their superstar goal scorer. Now, don’t get me wrong, Washington benefits from having Ovi on the ice, evident with 16 postseason appearances over the past 18 years, the most in the NHL. The NHL’s greatest goal scorer of all time has been the conductor of perhaps the most dominant, consistent and prolific organization in hockey since his arrival, and that hasn’t changed 20 seasons in. But now, Washington is no longer reliant of that success. It’s now just an added bonus for a group that has too many playmakers to be contained in a seven-game series.

Ovechkin’s Goals Record’s Momentum

This sounds like a cheesy way to promote a team heading into one of the most competitive, unpredictable postseason tournaments in sports. However, momentum is a real thing in sports, and usually comes from recent success. For Washington, winning just 15 of its past 27 games since returning from the Four Nations Face Off break, isn’t heading into the postseason with the hot hand because of its recent efforts. They are, however, because Alex Ovechkin’s goals record has created a sense of pride, magic, and camaraderie with this team that is so intact that it’s hard to break up in the postseason.

See, once Ovechkin came back from injury in late December and returned to his previous elite status, fans began to realize that their captain breaking the all time NHL’s goals record during the 2024-25 season felt attainable. This created, “The GR8 Chase,” and a series of events that followed until the face of the game became the greatest goal scorer in the history of the sport. Ovechkin scored in five consecutive games to light the lamp for an 895th time, and the record pursuit and celebration overruled all else in the National Hockey League. During this stretch, Washington played mediocre hockey. In those five games, the Caps went 2-3, not winning consecutive games since March 20th & 22nd. And because they clinched the top seed just days after, we haven’t seen this team at full strength post-record distractions. However, those distractions might be the reason why the Caps have a chance in this year’s postseason.

“Every day, [Dylan] Strome is getting asked about the record. You’re not getting away from it,” Babos shared just days before Ovechkin etched his name in history. However, he also shares that the record “has brought the team together,” and the happiness instilled in this locker room over the past few weeks has been apparent. Some might view this as a negative, though I view it as a positive. There is a magical energy in the DC right now, and a lot of it is coming from this record. They’ve been the face of the NHL, their star has reshaped the meaning of fame and notability in this game, and Washington now has a target on their back that together they’re fighting to get past. That is the heart of a team destined to do great work in the postseason.

When the Caps were playing poor hockey when Ovechkin was on the doorstep of hockey immortality, Babos did mention, “If he gets the record, watch out in the playoffs. That’s going to be some fun.”

Let The Games Begin…

So now, Washington enters the postseason with a tough battle ahead against the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens are a team clicking on all cylinders at the current moment, and there’s no reason why they can’t threaten the Caps and their vulnerabilities in the first round. However, of all teams, Washington might be the most prepared for what’s to come in the coming weeks, and the most dangerous opponent to face.

“The team has played a very structured game that’s going to work in the playoffs,” Babos explained. “They play the game the right way. They’re good in the forecheck [and] tight in the neutral and defensive zones. [Those are] all things that playoff teams should do.”

Beyond the X’s-and-O’s, the Capitals have an energy and the team camaraderie to make a deep playoff run that hasn’t been evident since its 2018 Stanley Cup team. In one of the most magical seasons in franchise history, the Caps might be on the doorstep of the franchise’s second Stanley Cup title.

The first step: getting past Montreal. They will present their own set of challenges. Coming up next: a full series preview between the Caps and the Habs right ahead of game one tomorrow night.

Chase Coburn

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