I am writing this article before Game 5, which was Saturday night. I hope to my heavenly stars above that they won the game Saturday night, or this entire article is completely negated. With that being said, the Washington Capitals have to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in this series. I am confident that whoever wins this series will go to the Stanley Cup Finals. And honestly, the team most deserving is the Caps.
But what if we do not win the series? Holy cow, I do not even want to think about that. Ever since high school, year in and year out this team has broken my heart. And I cannot have my heart broken again, especially with how amazingly deep and well rounded this team is. Just the other night, while I was having my heart broken watching the Caps lose in OT, I was naming our lines. We have one of Sweden's national team players in Marcus Johansson ON OUR THIRD LINE. That is absolutely ridiculous. Head to toe, this team should be holding up the Cup in six weeks.
But what if we don't win...I am writing this article in confidence because I think we will have won Game 5 in the Verizon Center. First off, there is no way we should be losing this series. Matt Murray can be closely described as a brick wall, and I'm not going to lie, I think the Pens have scored one honest goal over the past two games. That's just playoff hockey, though, one lucky bounce here, one improper deflection there (DAMMIT MIKE WEBBER) and we have a series at 3-1 that could easily be going our way.
BUT, in all seriousness, what if we don't win? The Capitals had such a phenomenal season behind the best player in the universe and this year's best goalie. Has DC completely one-uped the Red Sox, that the entire city's sports teams are forever cursed? We can date back to last year with the Nationals this past fall, the Terrapins this spring, and hopefully the Caps don't follow suit this summer. I cannot stand to see this city go into such heartbreak.
What if we don't win? This might come as a surprise, but I don't think I will be mad. I think I might shrug my shoulders and say "we will get them next year." Because I have been saying that for the past FIVE YEARS. Ever since 2012, season after season the Caps have found some way to end it in such disappointment. The difference with this year is the disappoint began in the regular season. We were 11 points better than every team in the league! Game after game, this team has given us the image of a Stanley Cup in our heads.
We need the Caps to win. They need to end this cycle of the DC sports curse. Not winning the Stanley Cup might send this city into eternal sports blue balls. So what if we don't win? The Wizards will sign KD this summer, the Nationals will lose in the World Series, the Redskins will barely squeak out of a mediocre NFC East to get mauled by the Seahawks, the Wizards will probably lose in the Eastern Conference Semis, and we will do the same thing with the Caps next year. It's inevitable.
