The Capitals feel ready for the pressure of the Stanley Cup playoffs after a tough end to the season

As the Capitals prepare to open the first round against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, they believe weeks of living on the edge have put them in a stable position to handle the pressure of the postseason.

We won three in a row. “We felt good,” center Dylan Strome said. The momentum is a bit with us, and obviously we feel good. It's going to be a tough building to play in, a tough rink, but I think as hockey players you want to be confident, you want to be confident in your own game and our team.

On paper, things aren't looking good for Washington as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference after needing a win on the final day to get over the line against the Presidents Trophy winners. Translating the regular season results into what might happen in the playoffs isn't exactly a direct comparison, but as Strome was quick to point out, the Capitals went 2-2 against the Rangers in the regular season and won by scores of 4 -0 and 2-1. and lost by scores of 5-1 and 3-2.

Just last season, the Presidents Trophy-winning Boston Bruins were upset by the Florida Panthers, who snuck into the eighth seed in the first round after a late-season push.

If you look across the entire hockey season, any team can beat any team on any given night, Strome said. We played pretty well against the Rangers this year. We were 2-2, both had nine goals up, nine goals against. And I think anything can happen in the playoffs. You saw what happened last year: the best team in regular season history loses to Florida because they had a good end to the season and kind of made it to the playoffs.

These Capitals aren't exactly last year's Panthers, who were just a year removed from winning a Presidents Trophy of their own when they defeated the Bruins and rushed to the Stanley Cup Final. Washington hasn't won a playoff series since winning the Cup in 2018, and it took almost everything the Capitals had to get over the line this year.

But by living on the edge for the better part of a month, if not longer, Washington also became comfortable with the type of hockey it takes to win in the postseason. In tightly contested, tough games, the Capitals are often the best versions of themselves; it's when things happen that they're in trouble.

“I think we've been playing playoff hockey this past month,” center Connor McMichael said. We were already in that mode and in that mentality. We want to prove that we can compete with any team in this league. It is a great opportunity for our team to compete against the winners of the Presidents Trophy. They have a very good team there, but I think they are ready for the challenge.

Washington coach Spencer Carbery cautioned against getting too confident at the end of the regular season, knowing the playoffs will bring a new level of difficulty.

It's a clean slate. It's a new season now, Carbery said. Do we feel good about where our game is? Are we feeling good and have we taken some positive steps to make it harder to play against us, do things that are quote-unquote-playoff type games, get through that and get some results? Sure, and that will help. We're going to have to replicate some of the games we played and some of the things we did in those games if we want to have success against Rangers.

Focus on that and try to transfer that momentum as best you can, knowing that it's a whole new animal and a clean slate.

But even as Carbery tried to set reasonable expectations, his players didn't temper their belief in themselves based on what they had to do to reach the postseason.

“We've been playing high-stakes hockey here for a while,” goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. And I think that also bodes well for us going into dance. We have a great group of guys here, and I think everyone will agree with me that this group has been special all season.

Leonard returns to Boston College

Top prospect Ryan Leonard, who was selected by the Capitals with the No. 8 pick in the 2023 draft, opted to return to Boston College for his sophomore season. Leonard set a Boston College record with 31 goals, the most by a freshman in program history, and ranked fourth in the nation with 60 points in 41 games. The Eagles lost to Denver in the national championship game.

We support Ryan's decision to return to one of the nation's top programs to continue his development, general manager Brian MacLellan said in a statement. We will continue to monitor his development and progress next year and look forward to seeing how Ryan builds on his successful freshman season.