ARLINGTON—Mike Ribeiro reiterated his desire Wednesday to stay with the Capitals past this season, but said he doesn’t think he “should have less than four or five years” on a new contract.

The 33-year-old second-line center had 13 goals and 26 assists after arriving via trade last June from Dallas. He is the Capitals’ top unrestricted free agent, but the team is reportedly hesitant to offer a contract of the length he wants.

“It’s not only me,” Ribeiro said. “I have a family and I want to make the right decision for them and for the team, too. If I stay here, I want to have a chance to win. I don’t want to be selfish and just think about me but what’s best for the team, and if I can be a part of it, I’ll do so.”

Ribeiro said he’d like to be flexible with the money if it would help the Capitals sign other players who can help them move deeper into the postseason. They lost to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Monday, marking their sixth straight exit in the first or second rounds of the playoffs.

Washington currently has approximately $5.5 million in available salary cap space, though that number could change if it uses amnesty buyouts on players making over $3 million next season.

Forward Matt Hendricks is the only other unrestricted free agent whom the Capitals appear to have interest in re-signing. Hendricks has carved out a role as an aggressor on the fourth line, but this summer could be the only chance for the 32-year-old to pull in a larger long-term contract.

“I hope I don’t get to that date in July,” Hendricks said, referring to the potential of signing a new contract before free agency begins on July 5. “I hope I’m back here in Washington. My wife, kids and I have made this our home, and we’ve come a long way here in the three years that I’ve played here. We really enjoy it, and I really enjoy the guys that I come to work with every day.”

Defensemen Karl Alzner and Marcus Johansson will be restricted free agents, and the Capitals are expected to at least make a qualifying offer to each player. Alzner, who has played every game over the past three seasons, hasn’t even thought about the possibility of signing with a different team.

“That would be weird,” Alzner said. “That would be, honestly, really weird. Like I said earlier, I don’t know anything but here, so it would be strange, but I haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to that kind of stuff, and I don’t really know.”

LAICH RECOVERING

Brooks Laich would have returned to the ice for the start of the Eastern Conference semifinals had the Capitals defeated the Rangers on Monday.

Laich had surgery to address a groin injury in early April and played in only nine games this season. He returned to practice midway through the first-round series and targeted a Game 5 return, but the team’s medical staff didn’t clear him.

“It was tough,” said Laich, who injured the groin playing in Switzerland during the lockout. “My heart is always going to trump my head when it comes to playing, so to have a medical staff and a general manager and a coaching staff that care about your well-being and your career as a person, I’m very appreciative of that.”

Martin Erat said he likely would have also returned for the start of the second round. Erat sustained a dislocated left elbow when he collided with Rangers forward Derek Stepan early in Game 4 and missed the final three games.

OFFICIAL COMPLAINTS

McPhee voiced his concerns about officiating to the NHL office after the Rangers had 28 power play opportunities to the Capitals’ 16. New York was tied with Chicago for the fewest penalties in the league during the regular season, and Washington only allowed two power play goals all series.

“I didn’t like the refereeing, but if you complain about it during the series, you’re accused of trying to gain an edge,” McPhee said. “If you complain about it after a series is over, then it’s whining and sour grapes.”

The Rangers still took it that way. Head coach John Tortorella told New York reporters Wednesday: “We’ve got everybody and their brother whining out there in Washington about what happened in that series, and I think that’s a big reason they lost that series.”

THE FUTURES MARKET

The Capitals remain unsure of what to do with 19-year-old winger Tom Wilson, who made his NHL début in Game 5 after finishing his season with Plymouth of the Ontario Hockey League. McPhee said the team may ask him to play juniors again, though he admitted that would likely stunt his growth.

McPhee has been reassured by Evgeny Kuznetsov, the team’s first-round pick in 2010, that he intends to play for the Capitals when his two-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk expires after next season. Kuznetsov, considered the Capitals’ top prospect, wanted to play for Russia in the Sochi Olympics next February and believed staying home would be his best opportunity to do so.

Zac Boyer: 540/374-5440

zboyer@freelancestar.com

BY ZAC BOYER

ARLINGTON – Alex Ovechkin believes the Washington Capitals can still win a Stanley Cup with their current team despite their elimination from the first round of the playoffs on Monday.

While the Capitals have qualified for the playoffs each of the last six seasons, they have failed to advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals. The New York Rangers won 5-0 at Verizon Center on Monday in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals and will face Boston in the next round beginning Thursday.

Washington has won just twice with Ovechkin in the seven times their playoff series has lasted seven games. He had just one goal and one assist against the Rangers despite leading the league with 32 goals during the regular season and tying for third with 56 points.

“For me personally in the playoffs, how I say, it’s not one player,” Ovechkin said. Of course when you lose the game and when you lose the series everybody try [to] find the guy who didn’t do something out there. But as a captain and as a player, I can see everybody do exactly what they have to do.”

Washington won the first two games of the series, then lost both games at New York to see its lead evaporate. Each team won at home in the next two games, but the Rangers shut out Washington in each of the last two games to advance.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who had a .947 save percentage and 1.65 goals against average during the series, stopped 27 shots in Game 6 and 35 shots in Game 7. He was the sole reason the Capitals were not able to advance, according to Ovechkin.

“He was unbelievable in our games and we just, myself and my line, we didn’t find the way to score goals 5-on-5,” Ovechkin said. “We scored, 5-on-5, one goal our line. At that level, that intense of game, you just can’t win and can’t get some results for the team if you have lots of ice time and you have that kind of chances to score goal [and] you can’t score. You just get frustrated after you lost the series.”

After seven years of playing primarily on the left wing, Ovechkin moved to the right side this season under new head coach Adam Oates. Though the adjustment took time, Ovechkin credited Oates for his development this season; he’s once again up for the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, each of which generally recognizes the league’s most valuable player.

“It was a big reason why I step up in my game,” Ovechkin said. “Right now I can tell to work with him, it was probably one of the biggest reason to my success this year.”

Ovechkin scored 16 of his goals on the power play during the regular season, making the unit the most lethal in the league. Washington went just 3-for-16 on the power play in the series, though it managed to kill off 26 of 28 of the Rangers’ power play opportunities.

New York was tied with Chicago for the least penalties during the regular season, but the disparity in calls throughout the series was a contentious topic in the Capitals’ locker room. Ovechkin addressed it again with the Russian media following Monday’s game and theorized that there was a connection between keeping the Rangers in the series, lost revenue from the four-month lockout and higher television ratings.

When asked Tuesday, Ovechkin said he didn’t “want to repeat” what he said about the officiating after the game.

“That’s not my call,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t skate with the whistle there. I skate with the stick. My job to play the game. Somebody job to look at the game and make decisions. That’s all I can say about it.”

Other decisions will come this summer. Center Mike Ribeiro, who anchored the second line for much of the season, will be the team’s top unrestricted free agent. Forward Matt Hendricks will also be an unrestricted free agent, while winger Marcus Johansson and defenseman Karl Alzner will enter restricted free agency.

Alzner expressed doubts after the game Monday that the Capitals, as currently construed, will be able to advance further into the playoffs.

“We all play this game to win, and when you see one year after another year disappointments –and I know it’s only been three playoffs for me … you don’t want to see the time tick away,” Alzner said. “You want to at least get a taste of it before you’re done. So, I hopefully have a long time, but, yeah, I’ve thought about it.”

Ovechkin disagreed, and he said that while he’ll only pay limited attention to the decisions the team makes on other players, he’d like to see the locker room remain intact for another run next year in a full 82-game season.

“I think we’re gonna do lots of work in this summer, and I hope this group of guys gonna stay together long time,” Ovechkin said.

WASHINGTON—Crafted as a team that should consistently achieve a reasonable measure of success, the Washington Capitals have found in recent years that their triumphs have purely been restricted to the regular season.

They have won the Southeast Division five times in the last six years, typically requiring every last game on the schedule to move onto the next stage of play. So, too, has been the case in the postseason, with seven of the nine series requiring the maximum seven games.

The Capitals have turned prolonged uncertainty into an art form, though the final strokes have rarely been the touches of beauty. Washington, bogged down by inconsistencies, lost 5–0 to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the teams’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Monday at Verizon Center, bringing a swift end to an already shortened season.

“Quite honestly, tough to explain,” head coach Adam Oates said. “I wish I had an answer for that.”

In falling to New York, the Capitals squandered victories in the first two games and could not take advantage of a 3–2 lead with home ice advantage. The sixth-seeded Rangers, the first team to win on the road in the series, will advance to play Boston in the next round beginning Thursday.

Five different players scored for New York, which handed the Capitals their largest loss since a seven-goal clunker against Pittsburgh in their first playoff game in 2000. The star, though, was goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who turned away 35 shots for his second consecutive shutout and didn’t crack even on the rare occasion when the Capitals were knocking at his doorstep.

Braden Holtby had just 22 saves for Washington and was weighed down by a porous defense. While two of the first three goals he allowed were the result of deflections, he looked particularly lost in the third period, when a turnover by John Erskine led to a breakaway goal by Ryan Callahan and Mats Zuccarello deked him out of his skates.

The five previous games between the teams in the series had been decided by one goal, with two—Game 3 and Game 5—won by the Capitals in overtime.

Monday was nothing of the sort. Washington tried to set a physical, aggressive tone early and created several scoring chances with a strong forecheck that kept the puck in the offensive zone. Their vigorous play was punctuated by Alex Ovechkin, who had four hits in the first 10 minutes and 13 overall, including a 20-second sequence in which he knocked laid out Rangers defensemen John Moore and Ryan McDonagh midway through the first.

But New York’s first goal, 13:42 into the first period, changed that. Lundqvist denied Mike Green’s breakaway opportunity—at that point the Capitals’ best scoring chance—and then passed the puck up to Chris Kreider, who led a rush the other way.

Kreider left the puck for Arron Asham at the top of the right faceoff circle, and Asham, who had just two goals during the regular season and also scored in Game 3, buried a snap shot that glanced off defenseman Jack Hillen’s stick and fluttered past Holtby’s gloved left hand.

The Rangers piled on with their second and third goals early in the second period. While Holtby stopped Steve Eminger’s slap shot from the right point and battled Derek Dorsett for the rebound, Taylor Pyatt swooped in and tapped the puck past the goal line at the 3:24 mark.

Michael Del Zotto then pushed the lead to 3–0 when his shot from the left point at 5:34 glanced off the left skate of a diving Troy Brouwer. Callahan scored his first goal of the series just 13 seconds into the third period, then Zuccarello added his at 6:39.

The Capitals had two power plays in which they could not score, but they also killed both of the Rangers’ penalties. They entered the playoffs with the top-ranked power play but went just 3-for-16 in the series, though they held the Rangers to 2-for-28 with the advantage.

Ovechkin took one shot on goal and had four others blocked, leaving him with just one goal and one assist in the series. Washington has won just two of the seven times they’ve played in a Game 7 with their star winger, and the Capitals are now 1-for-4 in Game 7 at home since 2008.

They opened this season by losing nine of their first 11 games, their worst start in nearly two decades, but finished as one of the league’s hottest teams by winning 15 of their final 19 games.

“I felt like we battled through all seven games, and you know, we’ll learn from it,” Holtby said. “We’ll build from it. We still have a main goal in mind, and however long it takes us to achieve it, we’ll keep working until we do.”

N.Y. Rangers 1 2 2 — 5

Washington 0 0 0 — 0

First Period—1, N.Y. Rangers, Asham 2 (Kreider), 13:19. Penalties_Asham, NYR (roughing), 18:42.

Second Period—2, N.Y. Rangers, Pyatt 1 (Dorsett, Eminger), 3:24. 3, N.Y. Rangers, Del Zotto 1 (Brassard, Nash), 5:34. Penalties_None.

Third Period—4, N.Y. Rangers, Callahan 1, :13. 5, N.Y. Rangers, Zuccarello 1 (Brassard, Eminger), 6:39. Penalties_Brouwer, Was (slashing), 3:28; Eminger, NYR (delay of game), 12:39; Ribeiro, Was, misconduct, 16:28; Brouwer, Was (slashing), 16:28.

Shots on Goal—N.Y. Rangers 9-8-10_27. Washington 13-13-9–35. Power-play opportunities—N.Y. Rangers 0 of 2; Washington 0 of 2. Goalies—N.Y. Rangers, Lundqvist 4-3-0 (35 shots-35 saves). Washington, Holtby 3-4-0 (27-22). A—18,506 (18,506). T–2:27. Referees—Chris Rooney, Dan O’Rourke. Linesmen–Jean Morin, Brian Murphy.

Zac Boyer: 540/374-5440

zboyer@freelancestar.com

BY ZAC BOYER

Mike Ribeiro scored his first playoff goal 9:24 into overtime to give the Capitals a 2-1 victory and allow them to head into New York on Sunday with the possibility of eliminating the Rangers.

An aggressive approach to overtime was what gave the Capitals the ability to win the game and head into New York with the advantage, Steve DeShazo writes.

Nineteen-year-old Tom Wilson became the youngest player to make his debut for the Capitals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when he filled in as the fourth line right wing in Game 5.

Alex Ovechkin was named a finalist for the Hart Trophy, given to the player “ajudged to be the most valuable to his team.”

BY ZAC BOYER

WASHINGTON – Mike Ribeiro had seen pucks bouncing in front of Henrik Lundqvist all game, so to look down and see it lying still in the crease was a surprise.

“Pucks were in his cage, and pucks were bouncing, and the puck just showed up there,” the Washington Capitals’ center said. “I was at the right time, the right moment, and we’ll take this win.”

Ribeiro buried a point-blank shot 9:24 into overtime to give the Capitals a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers at Verizon Center on Friday.

Joel Ward also scored for the third-seeded Capitals, who now take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series and will have the opportunity to put away the sixth-seeded Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

The goal was the first of the postseason for Ribeiro, who said he felt overdue after scoring 13 goals and finishing second on the team with 49 points during the regular season.

After a sluggish start to the extra period, the two teams played end-to-end and alternated shots before the Capitals were able to establish possession in the attacking zone.

Defenseman Mike Green took a shot from the right point 9:19, but it was blocked by Rangers defenseman Jeff Moore. He regained control and passed the puck across to Karl Alzner on the left side, whose entry pass whizzed off Lundqvist’s chest and dropped on the doorstep.

Ribeiro merely needed a quick flick of the wrist for the goal, with Lundqvist unable to turn around in time to stop it.

“They’re a team that likes to block shots, so we need to be patient and not get frustrated,” Ribeiro said. “We did a great job of doing that tonight – just saying patient and waiting and waiting.”

The Rangers, who won their two home games on Monday and Wednesday, scored the first goal of the game 53 seconds in on a wrister by Brian Boyle.

New York kept the puck in the attacking end after Boyle’s first shot ricocheted back to Dan Girardi at the right point, and the defenseman then passed the puck along the end boards to Derick Brassard behind the net.

Brassard spotted Boyle charging the net, and his pass went under the stick of a lunging Mike Green before Boyle beat Braden Holtby five-hole.

That goal set the tone for the remainder of the period. The Capitals played uninspired and effortless over the ensuing 19 minutes, though they twice killed off penalties as the Rangers’ power play continued to struggle.

The second period started off as a roller derby, with players from each team chasing pucks around the edges and throwing checks in an attempt to establish possession. When Boyle was sent off for slashing 7:33 into the period – he took a hack at the back of Ribeiro’s left leg – Washington was finally able to capitalize.

Despite losing the faceoff, the Capitals forced a turnover and Nicklas Backstrom took possession of the puck alongside the right half-wall. His pass down to Marcus Johansson to the right of the net yielded nothing, but Johansson spotted Ward alone in the slot for a one-timer the winger blasted past Lundqvist’s left shoulder.

It was the third consecutive game in which Ward tallied a point after picking up assists in the two road games.

“I mean, obviously they did a good job of taking that away in New York, and we kind of looked at some tape and you know, just made a few adjustments on some positioning,” said Ward, who has points in three consecutive games after picking up assists in each game in New York. “I got a good pass and you know, I was open in the slot and just took a crack at it.”

Holtby, who had not lost consecutive playoff games before doing so Wednesday, made 24 saves, including five in the third period. Lundqvist had 33.

Alex Ovechkin, who had a combined three shots on goal in the road losses, took 15 shots – nine on goal. Tom Wilson, who became just the fourth Capitals player to make his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, played 6:24 and took one shot.

BY ZAC BOYER

WASHINGTON – Tom Wilson got the news he had been waiting for Wednesday night when the Washington Capitals’ top prospect was informed he’d be joining the team for its playoff run.

While he was excited, the transaction created a bit of trouble for Wilson’s parents, Kevin and Neville. Wilson’s younger brother, Jamie, had his senior prom scheduled for Friday night, and Neville decided she’d stay home while Kevin and older brother Pete traveled to Washington.

“He’s got an iPhone now so I’m sure he’s going to be following with all the apps and stuff,” Wilson joked Friday morning. “But it’ll be a pretty good night for him too.”

Wilson became the fourth Capitals player to make his debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Friday when he suited up for the team in its 2-1 overtime victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Trent Whitfield, who went without a point in three playoff games in 2000, was the last Washington player to do so. Chris Felix and Grant Jennings also made their debuts in the postseason, with each making their debuts in 1988.

None were as young as Wilson, the fresh-faced 19-year-old who was a first-round selection by the Capitals in the entry draft in June. Wilson coincidentally replaced the injured Martin Erat, who was acquired in a trade with Nashville on April 3 in which the Capitals surrendered their other first-round pick, Filip Forsberg.

Wilson’s insertion into the lineup was a low-risk, high-reward for Washington. Head coach Adam Oates sought a right-handed shot and a physical presence to occupy the fourth line, and the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Wilson fit the bill.

Aaron Volpatti, who played in 12 of the Capitals’ final 14 regular-season games, spent much of his time on the left wing and was not a fit, while consistent healthy scratch Wojtek Wolski and fellow recall Joey Crabb were passed over.

“Obviously he’s a big body and he really reads the play well,” said Jay Beagle, who centered the Capitals’ fourth line. “Just from playing with him in that one preseason game I guess we had against Reading, it was the only time that we had played together. He reads the play real well and he’s a smart kid. Really picks up stuff quick and likes to keep it simple, relatively simple, and that’s the way me and Matt [Hendricks] like to play, so it should be good. Good fit.”

Wilson, taken 16th overall by the Capitals, returned to Plymouth of the Ontario Hockey League for the second consecutive season. He had 23 goals and 35 assists in 48 games with the Whalers, then helped the team to the Western Conference finals, where he had nine goals and eight assists in 12 playoff games before bowing out to former Capitals head coach Dale Hunter and his London Knights in five games of their best-of-seven series.

The defeat allowed Wilson to join Hershey, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, last Saturday in time for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Providence. He had one goal and served six penalty minutes in three games for the Bears before they were eliminated in five games on Wednesday, leading to yet another phone call and promotion for the Ontario native.

“I was just sitting on the bus, pretty down after the loss, and [Hershey general manager] Doug Yingst called me up to the front of the bus and told me that I’d be going [to Washington],” Wilson said. “It’s pretty cool, and I was very excited. It was definitely a long morning driving up with Crabby but it’s good to be back here.”

Wilson received a warm ovation from the crowd when he took his first shift 1:40 into the first period, and he pestered Rangers defenseman John Moore and winger Brian Boyle early in the second period.

All told, he played 6:24 – all at even strength and not in overtime – and took one shot on goal.

“Unbelievable debut,” Wilson said after the game. “I mean, couldn’t have asked for any better. It was a front row seat to an amazing game. The boys did a great job finishing that off.”

BY ZAC BOYER

ARLINGTON – Alex Ovechkin was announced Friday morning as a finalist for the Hart Trophy, which is given by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to the to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.

The Capitals winger joined XXXX and XXX as finalists for the award. He led the league with 32 goals during the 48-game season, and he had a league-high 16 power play goals and tied for third with 56 points.

Ovechkin captured the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy two weeks ago for scoring the most goals in the league, and on Thursday he was named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, which is given to the most outstanding player as judged by the players.

Should Ovechkin win the award, it would mark his third time doing so. He also won the Hart Trophy following the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

BY ZAC BOYER

ARLINGTON – Adam Oates said Martin Erat will likely not play Friday in Game 5 of the Washington Capitals’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers.

Erat sustained what appeared to be a left wrist injury 18:26 into the first quarter of the Capitals’ Game 4 loss on Wednesday after he collided with Alex Ovechkin and Rangers forward Derek Stepan. The three players all fell to the ice, with Erat landing on his left arm and sliding into the net before being attended to by the team’s athletic training staff.

The left wing did not return to the game, with Eric Fehr replacing him on the second line and Joel Ward moving up to the third line.

Oates could offer no update on Erat’s condition after Thursday’s practice, saying only that he was scheduled to undergo an MRI later that day. Erat was not in the locker room after practice concluded.

“Marty’s a huge part of the team, but I look at it another way: People have a huge chance to step up,” winger Jason Chimera said. “Fehr’s got a chance to play on that second line, and that’s more minutes for the third line. Stuff like that. You’ve got to look at it differently.”

Erat, acquired via trade with Nashville on April 3, played in only nine games with the Capitals this season. He did not have a point in the first four playoff games.

The Capitals recalled Joey Crabb and Tom Wilson from Hershey early Thursday and both players practiced. Aaron Volpatti, who played in 12 of the last 14 regular-season games, and Wojtek Wolski, who played in 21 but only four since March 12, also could enter the lineup.

BY ZAC BOYER

ARLINGTON – Brooks Laich clarified Thursday that he had a minor groin surgery in April but disputed the notion that it was a sports hernia surgery.

The Capitals’ left wing missed all but nine games this season after injuring his groin while playing in Switzerland during the lockout. He didn’t make his debut until March 19 at Pittsburgh, then missed the final 11 games beginning April 6 against Florida.

Multiple reports indicated in recent days Laich had sports hernia surgery, which addresses inflammation near the hips but not specifically the groin. Though he had declined to speak about the nature of the injury during the past month, he wanted to clarify what he perceived as speculation about his health following practice on Thursday.

“I think that’s five skates in the last week,” Laich said. “I think I did two or three by myself and yesterday and today with the team. I’ve still got a little ways to go, but I’m really encouraged over what I went through yesterday and what I went through today.”

Laich did not offer a timetable on his potential return, saying only that he would be back in the lineup when he believes he’s able to contribute. The Capitals play Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers on Friday at Verizon Center.

A steady contributor on special teams and a top-six forward, Laich had one goal and three assists in his nine regular season games. He had played in every Capitals postseason game over the previous five seasons before missing the first four of this series while recovering from the surgery.

“He said he felt a lot better,” head coach Adam Oates said. “But a lot of times obviously with him, we’re very guarded. A lot of times you have to wait and see how he feels in the morning.”

BY ZAC BOYER

ARLINGTON – The Capitals have recalled wingers Joey Crabb and Tom Wilson from Hershey, with each player scheduled to take part in the team’s Thursday morning practice.

Crabb played in 26 games and had two goals with Washington before being assigned to Hershey on March 23, then had six goals and six assists in 12 games with the Bears. He had five goals in five games during the Calder Cup Playoffs, from which Hershey was eliminated in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals by Providence on Wednesday.

Wilson, 19, was one of two players taken by the Capitals in the first round of the draft in June and made his professional debut in Game 3 of the series against Providence. His recall came after he helped Plymouth reach the OHL’s Western Conference finals, and he had 17 points – nine goals and eight assists – in 12 playoff games.

With the Bears’ season over, the Capitals could conceivably recall several other players, including defensemen Tomas Kundratek, Dmitry Orlov and Cam Schilling and forwards Garrett Mitchell and Casey Wellman.