May 15, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates away after going through the handshake line after game five of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Crazy Capitals, Alex Ovechkin Stat Shows Brutal Playoff Trend

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Nick Horwat | Last updated May 16, 2025 11:00 AM ET

For the last 20 years, the Washington Capitals have been one of the best and most feared teams in the NHL. With the league’s all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin at the helm, one would assume the Capitals are routinely in the fight for the Stanley Cup.

After a second-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Capitals failed to reach the Eastern Conference Final for the 19th time in Ovechkin’s career.

Since Ovechkin broke into the NHL in 2005, the Capitals have made the playoffs 16 times but advanced past the second round just once. That one time came in 2018 and they went on to win the Stanley Cup, but this is an unexpected trend from a top team with a no-doubt future Hall of Famer.

The Capitals have only advanced past the second round ONCE in Alex Ovechkin's 20-year career (2018, won Cup) pic.twitter.com/6ejJybslyT
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 16, 2025

Over the course of his career, Ovechkin has played in 161 playoff games and hasn’t been a slouch. He’s the active leader in postseason goals with 77, an has tacked on 70 assists for 147 career playoff points.

During their Cup run of 2018, he led the playoffs with 15 goals and totaled 27 points in 24 games.

Early on in Ovechkin’s career, the trend was the Capitals could never make it past the second round, losing four out of five straight playoffs in the second round, including back-to-back against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.

They finally bunked that trend when they went on to win the Cup, but it’s clearly returned and haunted the Capitals ever since.

The Capitals have faced the Penguins four times over the last two decades, highlighted by the battle between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Each of the four meetings came in the second round, with Crosby and the Penguins getting the upper hand in three of them.

Ironically, each time Ovechkin and Crosby met in the playoffs, the winner of that series went on to win the Cup.

Over the course of this 20-year period, the Capitals have almost always been a threat. They finished 11 campaigns as the top team in their division, including three President's Trophy titles. Even this year, they unexpectedly won the Metropolitan Division and were the top team in the Eastern Conference, vying for another President's Trophy with the best regular season record. Despite the dominating 2024-25 season, they lost in the second round, yet again.

This unfortunate trend won’t disrupt Ovechkin’s chances at the Hall of Fame, nor will it do much to tarnish his reputation as one of the best players of all time. It’s just one of those strange anomalies in sports.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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