OPINION:
“The journey is the reward — enjoy” — Monumental Sports owner Transparent Ted Leonsis
It was quite a journey for Washington sports fans Monday night — almost too rewarding.
The Capitals, down 2-1 to the Carolina Panthers in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, went down 1-0 halfway through the first period.
Nine minutes later, the Wizards learned that there would be no Cooper Flagg salvation for the 18-win franchise. Instead, Washington wound up with the sixth pick in the upcoming NBA draft, the worst possible outcome for the hapless franchise.
Two hours later, the Nationals — the team Wizards owner Ted Leonsis wants to buy — lost their sixth straight, 4-3, to the Atlanta Braves.
One minute later, the Capitals, who had closed the gap in the third period to 3-2 with a goal by Alex Ovechkin, surrendered a killer goal to the Panthers’ Sean Walker early in the third period. They went on to lose 5-2 and go down in the series 3-1.
The clincher for Carolina — or the salvation for the Capitals — will be Game 5 on Thursday night at Capital One Arena.
So much journey in one night. So much enjoyment for Washington sports fans.
“We’re giving ourselves some opportunities, we’re just not executing, making the play, whatever you want to call it,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters. “And making some mistakes — and they’re capitalizing.”
For Wizards fans, it has been a journey that would make the Lewis and Clark expedition look like a stroll in the park. It has been 46 years since the franchise has won 50 games in an NBA season. That’s a journey that’s longer than 40 years in the desert.
The Dallas Mavericks — the team with the worst NBA draft lottery odds — didn’t even exist the last time the Wizards won 50 games.
They’ve built and rebuilt, won an NBA championship, fell apart, rebuilt, traded their most beloved player and now, with the first pick they won in Monday night’s lottery, will have a chance to draft Flagg, seen as a franchise-changing player.
Washington?
“This year’s NBA draft is another opportunity for the Washington Wizards to level up and build for the future,” Transparent Ted posted on social media. “With Michael Winger and Will Dawkins leading the charge, we are committed to doing the hard work necessary to build and strengthen our foundation for something special.”
Like they have a choice.
The Wizards find themselves trying to dig out of their grave with a handful of young, untested players and a boatload of draft choices — invisible players. They’ve been in that hole for decades, but Leonsis dug it deeper by sticking with the arsonist fireman, general manager Ernie Grunfeld.
He wasted the first 10 years of his ownership on fool’s gold and invested the future in ping pong balls.
Quite the journey.
The Capitals’ journey under Leonsis has included a Stanley Cup and the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL in Ovechkin.
That’s been a security blanket since the 2018 championship season. But that blanket is getting frayed with the passing of each failure since — five first-round postseason exits and now facing a second-round departure. And while Ovechkin has always been a source of comfort, he will be gone after next season.
If Washington can come back from a 3-1 series deficit against Carolina, that would actually be one fine journey. They’ve done it twice in their 50-year history – once in 1988 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Patrick Division semifinals, and against the New York Rangers in the first round in the 2009 postseason. They’ve been much better at blowing 3-1 series leads – five times.
We saw a microcosm of those failures Monday night when the Capitals got just one shot on goal during a 4-minute power play.
“Their penalty kill is excellent, best in the league, has been for the last, whatever, five years call it,” Carbery said. “But it can’t look like that. It cannot look like that.”
Sometimes it’s best to close your eyes during the journey. Too much fun.
• Catch Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.