ARLINGTON, V.A. — Back on Tuesday in Philadelphia, the Washington Capitals broke out into song, clapping their hands together and belting out the lyrics to Eric Church's "Talladega" as they packed their hockey bags after clinching the final spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It was fitting, the lyrics about a "wing and a prayer" proving analogous to the tooth-and-claw fight it took to get back to the postseason.
"When we finally made it, to Talladega, boys raised up," they sang postgame.
As they celebrated and took in the win, it reinforced a belief in one another throughout the room, and for Dylan Strome, that weekday in Philly just had a special feeling to it that was difficult to describe.
"It just felt like it wasn't over. It felt like whatever was going on, it didn't feel like the season was ready to be done," Strome said.
It's because whether critics like it or not, despite all of their flaws, imperfections and glaring -37 goal differential, there's something special about this year's Capitals group, and it helped lead them back onto hockey's biggest stage.
"We've really come together over the course of the season," Nic Dowd said. "Unlike any team that I've honestly been a part of."
But what exactly is it that sets this year's Washington group apart?
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Well, it boils down to quite a few things.
First off, for goaltender Charlie Lindgren, it comes down to the mix of personalities on the roster.
"Oh man... it comes down to the locker room and the guys in it. We're a team that gets along extremely well. I think we're well-rounded. Age-wise, we're kind of all over the map, which I think is a good thing," Lindgren said. "We got some guys that in their mid-to-upper 30s, and we got these young whippersnappers here that are full of energy and they come to the rink every day with a big smile and big laugh, and they keep things light. I just think there's a really good dynamic, and there's no doubt in my mind, it's certainly a special group."
The rag-tag bunch came together under rather unfortunate circumstances. First, legend Nicklas Backstrom stepped away from the group due to chronic hip complications, leaving behind major void at center and taking away a beloved member of the room.
Then, months later, a sell-off commenced, with Joel Edmundson, Anthony Mantha and finally, Evgeny Kuznetsov, who had his share of ups and downs and frustrations with D.C. over his 11-year tenure, being shipped off at the trade deadline.
It led to the team relying on the likes of younger, less experienced players like second-year netminder Charlie Lindgren and sophomore Connor McMichael, as well as call-ups in Hendrix Lapierre and Mike Sgarbossa, to help fill the void.
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Take in the fact that the team was also adjusting to new systems with first-year head coach Spencer Carbery taking over, and D.C. had its hands full.
Considering all of that, it was no surprise that critics wrote the Capitals off, figuring that the aging core and a roster consisting of a number of the AHL's Hershey Bears regulars wouldn't be enough to make the NHL postseason cut.
That was especially true when top-4 defensemen Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen went down during the final games in April, leaving Dylan McIlrath and Vincent Iorio with big skates to fill.
But they were wrong.
"All these different events through the year where your emotions go from here to here to here to here, but overall, I mean, we found a way in," Carbery said. "That's probably the overriding theme of this group and our team: the resiliency and the ability for us to just grind and just find ways to win hockey games."
It was a group with "something to prove" — the motto that lines the wall of the team's locker room — but the team also didn't have a lot of supporters in its corner. So, the players chose to lean on each other.
"Just about what we've gone through this year as a team, to be quite honest, I don't know if anyone has really believed in us at all this season. And again, we've taken it upon ourselves," Lindgren said. "We've had a lot of discussions together as a team about what we can do to focus on playing our best hockey, and I think we've done that."
Strome stepped up and led the team in scoring, Alex Ovechkin rediscovered his scoring touch, Lapierre and McMichael helped fill those center holes, the defense found its footing and, of course, Lindgren put on a show in net to help carry D.C. back up the standings.
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That internal confidence sparked something in the underdog group, which now goes head-to-head with ex-head coach Peter Laviolette's Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers.
“I think the chemistry we have right now in our locker room is tremendous," Ovechkin said. Everybody knows their roles, what they have to do and we all enjoy the time and we all have fun.”
Washington has one last practice before kicking off its series on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Madison Square Garden, and the vibes are — as defenseman McIlrath puts it — "immaculate."
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Because at the end of the day, despite entering this David vs. Goliath series as the former, the Capitals are happy to be here — and hungry for more.
"Everybody's going to say we've got no business being here, the goal differential, blah, blah, blah, that's going to be the narrative," Carbery said in Philadelphia. "And that's fine. It's warranted. It's a fact. But I know this group isn't just going to be content showing up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs."
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