Dylan Strome and the Capitals advanced on Wednesday to Round 2. [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/221e5d43-ef24-4e1b-9288-1b1a727ec887.jpeg] Dylan Strome and the Capitals advanced on Wednesday to Round 2. WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals had a lot of different emotions after clinching their series against the Montreal Canadiens and moving on in the playoffs for the first time in seven years. There was relief, then pride, then respect for their opponent. And among other things, excitement as they looked ahead to their next opponent. Here’s what Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and more had to say postgame, live from the locker room. ALEX OVECHKIN On his journey this year: “I mean, you just take game by game. What happened in the past and what happened in the regular season is over. Right now, we’re focusing on Game 1, round two. So, yeah, we won a series and we’re going to enjoy it tonight and tomorrow it’s a new day and it’s going to be a new series. So, we have to be smart and we have to move on and game by game.” On what he’s learned about this group so far in playoffs: “It doesn’t matter what happen, we stick together and we always believe. Since Day 1, when new pieces, new faces come to the locker room, you can feel it. We support each other and the most important thing is we have fun. It doesn’t matter (if) it’s up or down, we try to be positive and try to win the games. That’s the most important thing.” TOM WILSON On the Canadiens’ physicality: "I mean, you know what you're going to get out of them. So once I was able to kind of focus and dial it in, I think that's why everybody loves the sport of hockey, because there's guys on both sides of the puck that are willing to do whatever they have to for their team. And you know, they have a couple of those guys. We have a bunch of guys in our room, pretty much everybody, that's willing to stick up for the guy next to them and play hard. And you know, we knew that they were gonna play kind of cheap and try and get us off our game. So it got crazy at times. But that's why hockey's so fun, and that's why we all love the sport and we love playing and love competing. So it was a heck of a physical series, but that's what playoffs is all about.” On advancing for the first time in seven years: “You always want to get to the playoffs and you always want to win as many games as you can. You want to win the Cup. Obviously, the last couple of years, we haven't been able to advance. But the group in there, it doesn't — I guarantee you, if you ask a bunch of those guys, they're not thinking back to 2-3 years ago. They're not thinking about five years ago. Obviously, it's on the guys that have been here to to lead the way. But the pieces that we've added and what they brought to the group, they've been huge adds. And they've contributed huge. So we have a great culture and a great core here. But all those pieces that have come in this offseason and built this team is kind of what it's all about. So we've had a really fun time as a group and we'll just keep moving forward." DYLAN STROME On the road so far and the road ahead: “It's obviously a good start. I feel like this group has obviously big aspirations, and we've proven that we're a great team all year but we've got to keep proving it. Obviously we're playing a real good opponent coming up next. It's going to be a totally different test with the way they play. We'll watch some video, we'll study up and we'll be ready to go." On Logan Thompson: “He's a rock. He kind of did what he did all year. We feel really confident with him back there. You see their goal tonight, it's like a deflection midway up the guy's chest behind his glove, so it's one of those just a lucky, lucky bounce to go in for them. I thought he was awesome all series, including when I ran him over. He bounced back pretty good from that, so I'm very thankful for that that he was able to bounce back. But he was great. I thought he did what he did all year. He kept us in it, made the big saves when we needed it." LOGAN THOMPSON On moving on: “It's huge. No game in this league is ever easy. It's even harder once you get to playoffs. Honestly, I think either one of those games could have gone either way. The series could've been different. You tip your hat to them. That's a well-coached team. A lot of potential over there."
