Chokers to Champions: Capitals Overcome the Curse

Evgeny Kuznetsov flaps his wings after his OT series clinching goal

The curse has been lifted!

The Washington Capitals have broken a 20 year drought that has tortured Washington D.C. sports fans. For 20 years, no professional sports team in the D.C. area has made it to the conference final. Entering the second round of the NHL playoffs to face the Pittsburgh Penguins is all too familiar to Capitals fans. Everyone said that this team felt different, but that would not be the case if they lost this series to Pittsburgh. In this open letter to Penguins fans, we finally get to celebrate the pain that Penguins fans have to endure during this long offseason. A pain that is all too familiar to us.

Barstool Sports "Our Year" Capitals T-Shirt

“Our Year”

This quote created by Barstool Sports was in support of the Washington Capitals lifting the curse to make it past the second round. It supported the belief that this Capitals team was different and now it is evident why that is true. Every player is fulfilling their role. The Capitals entered game 6 missing 3 of their top 6 forwards (Andre Burakovsky, Tom Wilson, and Nicklas Backstrom). Alex Ovechkin has 8 goals and 15 points in 12 playoff games. Additionally, he scored the game winning goal in game 3 and assisted the game winning goals in games 5 and 6. Role players like Alex Chiasson and Nate Walker were even able to step up and contribute to the only regular time goal during game 6. Lastly, Evgeny Kuznetsov finally is proving his value as an electric forward. After a career best 83 points this regular season, Kuznetsov used his speed and slick hands to squeeze through two Pittsburgh defenders to score the overtime series clinching goal in game 6. The post game celebrations say it all.

And finally, a choker no more.