ANALYSIS/OPINION:
If you are a Washington Capitals fan, you should be going over last year’s embarrassing first-round Stanley Cup playoffs exit and wondering about the condition of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was suspended last week by the International Ice Hockey Federation for four years after a positive cocaine test.
Was Kuznetsov suffering the effects of drug use in that 5-0 Game 3 debacle defeat by the Carolina Hurricanes, when he seemed helpless to either shoot the puck or to stop a barrage of uncontested scoring chances?
What about with his team leading the series 3-2, the Game 6 loss to Carolina, a 5-2 defeat, or the elimination loss in double overtime, 4-3?