Capitals' Down Year Continues With Loss to Flyers

The Washington Capitals lost to the Philadelphia Flyers as their playoff hopes sunk even further.

Mar 11, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) battles for position against Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) in the third period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Washington Capitals last season looked like a team that could go all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals and win it. They got beat in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes, but they were one of the league's most dominant teams.

But fast forward to this year, and the team has had a lot of bad luck and just genuinely has looked out of sorts and not like the team they were last season. They dropped another game to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 as they looked lifeless for the majority of the game, and the result reflected that.

Young forward Ryan Leonard scored the only goal for the Capitals, and he was one of the only ones on the team that seemed like he was trying. As for the Flyers, the Capitals allowed Trevor Zegras to continue his great year and score another goal.

Mar 7, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46) reacts to a penalty against the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Capitals head coach Spencer Carberry won the Jack Adams Award last season after how well he was able to coach his team and get them a playoff series win over the Montreal Canadiens. But now, he is looking like a coach that is trying everything he can with the roster he has, but things are not going as smoothly.

Fans before the season likely tabbed the Capitals as one of the teams that was going to sit comfortably in the Eastern Conference and make the playoffs. But right now, there seems to be almost no way for the Capitals to make the playoffs, as there are too many teams ahead of them and a tough hill that is not climbable.

The Pierre-Luc Dubois injury did not help the Capitals, but it is just not their year

Pierre-Luc Dubois was out for quite a while with an injury this season for the Caps, and he was a major contributor last season. Losing one of your key contributors to an injury for a while is never helpful to a team's success.

But even with the injury and him coming back not too long ago, it just has not been the Capitals' year overall. They have teams that are way better than them and ahead of them in the standings, that it just makes sense that they are going to miss out on the playoffs this year.

And losing to a Flyers team that they generally are better than, is the icing on the cake for how the season has gone for Carberry's team. The Capitals just need to regroup in the offseason and draft well and figure it out in free agency and come back stronger next year since this season they have been disappointing.

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