ANALYSIS/OPINION:
The Capitals — one game away from moving on to the second round of the NHL playoffs and a showdown against former coach Barry Trotz’s New York Islanders — are showing what NBC Sports hockey analyst Eddie Olczyk referred to as their “Stanley Cup pedigree.”
The Capitals can close out their first-round series Monday in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a Game 6 win after grinding the Hurricanes into the ice 6-0 Saturday at Capital One Arena.
That Game 5 performance was so dominant, so confident, that Capitals fans should stop for a moment to savor what it says about this franchise: This is who the Washington Capitals are now — a team whose DNA is defined by a Stanley Cup championship.