With Hope Fading, Capitals Grapple With Being Non-Playoff Team: 'No One Expected This'

Washington hasn't missed the playoffs since 2014, and now, the Capitals are facing an unfamiliar and unexpected new reality.

WASHINGTON -- For most of the last decade, the expectation in the Washington Capitals dressing room has been a playoff run. It's all John Carlson and his teammates have known over the last eight years, and now, with just five games to go, they're in unfamiliar territory -- and they're not sure where to go next.

Washington has tried to keep hope alive in the room, embracing a "no quit" mentality with the team mathematically in the race. However, after dropping a 5-2 decision to the New York Rangers on Sunday, the most points the Capitals can finish with are 87, and looking at the big picture, it doesn't look like it'll be enough to make the cut.

And for Washington, that's a tough pill to swallow.

"Not too sure [how to process it], honestly," Dylan Strome said. "You're still trying to fight through every game. We're proud guys in here and we obviously wanna win. And mathematically, obviously, it doesn't look great. I think we're all aware of that."

The Florida Panthers currently sit in the second Wild Card spot and are one win away from eclipsing 87 points, while the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators are still in the thick of it. Once Florida -- or any of the other teams in the East -- hits 87, it's game over for the Capitals.

"Nobody wanted this, no one expected this," John Carlson, who is back with the team after missing three months with a fractured skull, said. "I think everything weighs on you a lot more. I think swings of a normal game, when things are going good, are a lot easier to deal with and move through and navigate. And I think when stuff clearly hasn't gone our way this year, it's difficult on everybody."

Even Aliaksei Protas, who is still relatively new to the organization and is in the midst of what is technically his sophomore season, said that there's a feeling of frustration boiling over as the group comes to terms with where it stands.

"It's been a while, but I think it's time to look in the mirror right now for everybody and realize we've got to play more consistent. We've got to play a full 60 because the history of the club, for the last ten years, has been like nothing but at least playoffs and fight for the Cup. That's the expectation in this organization."

Finding that consistency has been easier said than done, though. Carlson explained that there's a lot of heart and talent on the roster, but with the way the season's gone, it's been more difficult to get things going and to execute with the results Washington has seen this year.

"Confidence is harder when things aren't going well. You know, morale, you try your best to make sure the team's in a good spot that you give yourself the best chance to win every night and build from it," Carlson added. "But those are things as much as you talk about them, they don't just happen. You got to manufacture them and keep to it and go through some tough times to get to it. And you know, it hasn't been great for us.

With the sun setting on the team's postseason hopes, the only thing the Capitals can do is control what they can and try to perform well in the final five games of the campaign.

"You keep fighting every day until the 82nd game is done," Strome said. "We're proud guys in here... come back and get a big win in Montreal and go from there."

Still, it's no secret that this season hasn't been at all what Washington was expecting after revamping its goaltending and adding some strong names in free agency. And as they face a harsh reality, they also feel a new weight on their shoulders.

"This season's a grind; it wears on a lot of guys... and when you're not getting the results that you wanted, it's even harder," Carlson said. "It's really difficult."