Washington D.C. sports fans did not have a great Wednesday night. The Wizards were facing the Celtics in a crucial Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the NBA playoffs, and the Capitals were taking on the Penguins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the NHL playoffs. They both lost.
The Capitals were the first to go down, falling 2-0 to the Penguins, ending their season. A feeling all too familiar for D.C. fans, and especially Caps fans.
Then the Wizards lost Game 5, 123-101 to the Celtics. No, the Wizards aren’t eliminated yet. But they now face elimination heading back to D.C. for Game 6, rather than looking to close out the series on their home floor. They’ll now have to win a Game 7 in Boston to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
D.C. had an extremely similar night in 2015. The Capitals lost a Game 7 that night to the Rangers, and the Wizards lost on an Al Horford tip in. That all happened with 15 minutes of each other. At least this year’s disappointment was a little more evenly spread out. Or maybe that’s actually worse. Like ripping off a band-aid, just make it happen quickly.
Not all is lost though. The Nationals won Wednesday night thanks to a walk-off home run from Matt Wieters to win 7-6 against the Orioles.
Better luck next year!