Blaming Alex Ovechkin is easy. He's low-hanging fruit, thanks to the fact his Washington Capitals have never advanced past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But there's so much more to hockey, and to a seven-game series, than one player.
Here are three combined reasons on why the Pittsburgh Penguins were victorious and the Capitals were ousted.
Puck luck
The Capitals had an 8.3 shooting percentage at five-on-five during the regular season, which ranked second in the NHL. That dropped to 5.2 percent in the playoffs. Only the Islanders, Blackhawks, and Flyers were worse in the postseason.
Washington scored 252 goals during its dominant, presidential regular season - most in the Eastern Conference and second in the NHL. The well ran dry at the wrong time. Ask Evgeny Kuznetsov, the club's leading regular-season scorer, who bagged one goal in 12 playoff games despite 39 shots on goal, third-most on the team.
That's life.
March of the Penguins
These Penguins are so much more than Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Think about it: Pittsburgh eliminated an excellent Capitals team without Marc-Andre Fleury, and by keeping Crosby and Malkin to only a combined four points.
Nick Bonino had 29 points in 62 games during the regular season. He has 10 in 11 playoff games - that's 34 percent of his regular-season production. Kuznetsov must hate him: Bonino scored twice on 12 shots in the series, both overtime winners.
There's Phil Kessel, who's proving he actually lives for the playoffs, and Carl Hagelin, who looked so utterly lost as a Duck earlier this season, and who's been on absolute fire ever since he put on the black and gold. Then there is Trevor Daley, and Kris Letang, who had three assists and played over 30 minutes in four of five games.
The Penguins finished the season 33-16-5 under Mike Sullivan. This is a formidable team.
Murray channels inner Holtby
Now the Capitals know what it's like to be on the opposite side of a young goalie who seemingly comes out of nowhere to steal the show in the playoffs.
Braden Holtby started only six games for the Capitals in 2011-12, before being handed the reins in the postseason. He made 14 starts, winning a Game 7 against the Bruins, before losing one to the Rangers. Holtby finished with a .935 save percentage and 1.95 goals-against average. It was a sign of things to come.
Matt Murray is doing his best Holtby impression, his performance punctuated by the fact he outplayed Holtby in the six-game series - even though Holtby finishes the playoffs with a stunning 94.3 save percentage at five-on-five. (The Penguins, as a team between Murray and Jeff Zatkoff, have the same mark.)
Murray's playoff numbers are stupendous: 9-2-1 with a .930 save percentage and one shutout in 13 games. But, yeah, that's Ovechkin's fault.
