The 37-year-old said that Thursday felt like an exhibition game, and that a lengthy offseason will offer a lot of time for reflection for the Capitals.
WASHINGTON -- For Alex Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals' season finale against the New Jersey Devils had a strange feel to it, almost as if it was an exhibition game with nothing on the line.
And there wasn't much on the line, as the team saw their 2022-23 season come to a close with a rough 5-4 overtime loss. It left Ovechkin and the team feeling a bit emotionally drained, as it marked the end of a disappointing campaign that will not feature a playoff run for the first time in nine years.
"It sucks to play when you lost a chance to make the playoffs," Ovechkin said. "You have to find energy, emotions. You know, you can ask any team who's out: it's hard to find motivation to play.
"We play for nothing," he added. "How I said, it's hard to find energy, it was hard to push yourself to be at the level everybody expect."
Ovechkin finished the campaign with 75 points in 73 games but found himself playing through several injuries as well. For the first time in his career, he missed games due to injury on three separate occasions and was also injured for three of the final four games of the season. He returned for the final game of the year on Thursday, recording an assist.
At the moment, the mood in the dressing room is somber, as the team hasn't truly gotten the chance to process a year filled with inconsistency that led to a slide down the standings and the postseason ultimately ending up out of reach.
"Season’s over, season’s done, nothing you can do. I’m always saying during the year every point is important point, right? You have to collect as many as possible at the beginning so you not gonna be in this situation like we was two months ago," Ovechkin said, adding, "It was kind of hard to catch. Still, if you look at, we still was four points or three points behind wild card spot, but everything change. Again, nothing you can do.”
While seeing the season end early is deflating, Ovechkin said the long break will allow the team much-needed time away. Not just to reflect and retool but to recover.
“[We want to] be healthy, first of all. You know, gonna have lots of time to think about yourself personally," Ovechkin said. "Get some rest, get some recover because lots of guys hurt. Some guys play through injury and we just have to recover to get better next year.”