WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals thought they were going to win Game 5; losing and seeing their 2024-25 campaign come to an end wasn’t in the realm of possibility.
Then, an odd sharp-angle shot from Andrei Svechnikov with 1:59 left in regulation somehow went in, resulting in a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, putting an end to the season.
“It’s really tough,” Tom Wilson said of the loss. “This is one of the best years of my hockey career, the amount of fun that we had, how close a group it truly was, and it’s hard to look around the room when you’re done and know this specific team will never be together again.”
Amid the scrums, players drifted in and out, visibly disappointed. Perhaps no one was more upset than Logan Thompson, who sat in his stall alone after his availability and reflected for a few moments in silence.
“It was a 3-on-2, I think, and it kicked out to my left. I just lost sight of it for a second,” Thompson said of letting in the game-winning goal. “There was kind of bodies coming in between, and it’s my job to find the lane and get my eyes on it and he sifted it through. It was a terrible goal to give up to end a season and I’ve got to wear that. I’m an adult. That’s on me, and I can be better.”
That said, there wasn’t much left to say.
"There's no other way to look at it when you lose. Everything aside, when you don't reach your goals, it's tough. It's tough to swallow,” John Carlson said. “It's tough to think about. I think, obviously, we had higher hopes for this season. I think there's nothing else to say besides the sting and the pain of losing."
Still, despite the loss, the sting hurt a little bit less, with the team proud of the fight it showed.
"It truly is a really special group in here… True honor to play with this guys and battle with this group, and every given night you look around the room, you know that every guy was going to do what they could,” Wilson said. “It's a recipe for success. We just fell a little bit short at a tough time of the year."
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