Yes, yes, it’s true. Despite having played on two Presidents’ Trophy winners and six division champions, Alex Ovechkin never has advanced to even the conference championship round during his 11 years as a Capital, but this dubious achievement now comes with a hashtag.
As in: #StupidUnfairPlayoffFormat.
Of course, no format can quite explain away how Washington — with Ovechkin, but three different head coaches (Bruce Boudreau, Adam Oates, Barry Trotz) — has lost five series with home-ice advantage and another while holding a 3-1 series lead since 2009.
Ovechkin may have outplayed Sidney Crosby this time, but the fact is even if the Great 8 was not the overriding problem, he was not the solution.