With a little over three minutes to go in the third period of Game 7, Montreal Canadiens forward Dominic Moore took a snapshot from 36 feet out. It soared past the far side of Washington Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov and into the back of the net giving the Habs a 2-0 lead and silencing the fans in the Verizon Center who seemed to have finally lost their hope.
Brooks Laich gave those fans some hope back a minute later when from his knees he scraped the puck into the air and in the net, but it wasn't enough. The clock ticked away and the fans stared in disbelief as the top team in the National Hockey League went down and its star sat on the ice with nothing more to give.
"I think we are all disappointed," said Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin. "But you know I really have nothing to say."
The Canadiens finished 33 points behind the Capitals in the regular season and scored a whopping 101 fewer goals than the Caps, but none of that mattered Wednesday night. The Caps were unable to find the net and continued to take costly penalties that Montreal gladly capitalized on.
Mike Green was called for crosschecking with less than a minute to go in the first, which set Montreal up for a power-play goal. Marc-Andre Bergeron scored on a slapshot to give the Habs a 1-0 lead, and the Caps fell behind for the seventh time in this playoff series, unable to recover.
The Caps once again struggled to find the net Wednesday night, something that had been a constant theme throughout this series.
Washington out-shot the Habs 42-16, but only one shot made it to the net thanks to Montreal's tight defense, consistent shot blocking in front of the net and some remarkable saves from their goalie, Jaroslav Halak.
The Capitals blew a 3-1 series lead to force their fourth Game 7 in four series.
"When you have a 3-1 lead in a series, you think there is no way you are going to drop three straight," Caps forward Mike Knuble said. "Especially two of those games at home. It's disappointing for a team that is known for goal scoring."
Washington also continued to have trouble capitalizing on power plays. The Caps were 1-for-30 on the power play coming into Wednesday night and they failed to score again despite being given two back-to-back opportunities in the second period and a final chance in the games' last two minutes.
At the start of the third period Ovechkin came out ready to take charge with a wrister that finally found the back of the net. But the goal was immediately called back for an interference violation on Knuble.
"That's a violation that hasn't been called all year." Knuble said. "I felt all night that I wasn't a crease presence, as far as being in the blue paint, I was right on the edge where I should be ... You haven't seen it all year and now it comes out in Game 7."
The questionable goal was just another downside of a disappointing night.
"There wasn't much I could tell them," Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said about his team. "I told them I felt exactly like they did. I thought we had a good chance to win the Stanley Cup this year. I would have bet my house that they wouldn't have beaten us three games in a row, and that we would have only scored three goals in almost 140 shots. But, I told them there was no sense in me saying anything right now because we all feel as low as we can possibly feel."
Ovechkin sat in the locker room after with his head held down. Washington's hero had been stunned.
"I think we have everything," Ovechkin said. "We just lost the game. Honestly, I don't know what to say right now."
There really isn't much to be said among anyone. The fans filed out quietly all wondering where things had gone so wrong.
It was supposed to be Washington's year. They stomped their way through the regular season, claiming the President's Cup and the attention of hockey fans everywhere. Expectations for the team had never been higher.
Now heartbroken fans are left with disappointment and the wonder of what could have been.
