Questions abound in Washington as Capitals swept away

By Steve Keating

TORONTO (Reuters) - There were no congressional hearings being planned but after yet another post-season flop by the NHL's Washington Capitals plenty of hard questions were being asked on Thursday.

Swept from the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Capitals fans were again left sifting through the wreckage of a demolished season for clues to what might have brought down the Eastern Conference's top seed.

The loss to Tampa Bay marked a fourth straight season of bitter playoff disappointment for Washington, but this exit was the most mysterious of all, even more than last year's collapse when they were bounced in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens after leading that best-of-seven series 3-1.

Much of the focus is likely to center around the future of coach Bruce Boudreau, who has guided his team to the playoffs in each of his four seasons in charge but has never been able to get Washington beyond the second round.

When asked to explain being swept 4-0 by the Lightning, Boudreau's had no answer other than to say that Tampa Bay was the better team.

"They just beat us in four straight, so I think they were (the better team)," Boudreau told reporters. "It wasn't by a big margin but we're still done in four games.

"There's not really much to say. The (players) are down in the dumps, I'm down in the dumps.

Having racked up more than 100 points in each of the last three seasons, Washington fans expected to their team to return to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1998.

But after eliminating the New York Rangers in five games in the opening round, the high-flying Capitals never got off the ground against a Lightning team that is enjoying a seven-game winning streak in the playoffs.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin's abilities as a leader are also coming under scrutiny as the immensely gifted Russian sniper has yet to prove he can rise to the challenge or inspire his team mates to do the same in the playoffs.

While Ovechkin led the Capitals in post-season scoring with five goals and 10 points he could not get his team to match the level of intensity Tampa Bay brought to the ice.

"We were hungry, we just didn't win," said Ovechkin, who is expected to join Russia's team at the world championships in Slovakia. "We want to win. They want to win.

(Editing by Frank Pingue)