(Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we're bound to lose some friends along the journey. We've asked for these losers, gone but not forgotten, to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The bloggers who hated them the most. Here is Puck Daddy’s own Ryan Lambert, fondly recalling the Washington Capitals. Again: This is a roast and you will be offended by it, so don't take it so seriously.)

We are gathered here today to mourn not only the loss of the Washington Capitals, but also the loss of their chances of reasonably competing for a Stanley Cup any time in even the relatively near future.

You tend to hear a lot of talk about how one team or another has a "window" in which they can reasonably win the Stanley Cup. San Jose, for example, has had its window open and close so many times — by the media's reckoning — that Doug Wilson finally installed a revolving door to save on energy.

Another team for whom we hear entirely too much about their "window" is the Washington Capitals.

But the thing about that is if it was open at all any more (and frankly, it probably wasn't), it was open in the way that smokers crack their window on the highway, and that horrible high-pitched sound of wind rushing in so loud that you can't hear the radio any more was the voice of a thousand Alex Ovechkin apologists who wanted nothing more than for that incredible back half of the season to once again be reality, rather than outlier.

Just as death is inevitable, so too was this result; the kind of slow, heavy train you could feel coming miles away if you touched your hand to the track, its whistle a deep and mournful cry carried to you by the wind.

Of course the Capitals were going to trip in the first round. It couldn't happen any other way. Because, with the Capitals goes the Southeast Division, and nothing in the history of hockey has ever been more fitting than the last-ever champion of the worst division in the history of professional sports than losing at home to a six-seed that finished the regular season with one fewer point.

The NHL is on NBC. “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” is on NBC. You know what that means? Comedic synergy!

Here’s the future host of “The Tonight Show” handing out some NHL Awards on his Monday night program. Unless it’s part of the bit, Jimmy’s flimsy grasp on the NHL stars’ names would seem to indicate he was prepped by Los Angeles TV sports anchors. Watch and giggle:

UPDATE: NBC keeps removing videos from YouTube and Hulu, so fast forward to the 6:50 mark of this full episode to see the bit

A few things …

• Tuukka Rask as the love child of David Letterman and Dexter is pretty hilarious, and much more accurate than our “Jonathan Toews after hot with a waffle iron" take.

• The Kopitar/Frankenberry connection has been made for years by cereal consuming puckheads.

• Ryan Button’s inclusion really, really pushed the boundaries of this being “NHL" superlatives.

• Someone doesn't like his superlative:

. @jimmyfallon count chocula? That cuts deep Jimmy......

—Strombone (@strombone1) May 14, 2013

• The subtle twisting of Robyn Regehr into “Robin Big-Ear” was the stuff of classic middle school trolling, sir.

• The lack of Greg Zanon in this bit makes us believe that Jimmy’s writers didn’t get down to ‘Z’. Or that like the rest of the Northwest Division, they didn’t care about the Colorado Avalanche, either.

All that said: It’s great to have the NHL as comedic fodder on Jimmy’s show. Hopefully one day we’ll get Don Cherry slow-jamming the news or, at the very least, have the chance to see the 2013 Conn Smythe winner battle him in beer pong. And by that we mean Patrick Kane.

APOn Monday night, thousands who gathered in Maple Leaf Square thought the Toronto Maple Leafs had Game 7 in the bag. That was until the Boston Bruins became the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 after trailing by at least three goals in the third period. "Stunned" doesn't do it justice.

Ecstasy quickly became agony, and YouTuber ‘Averagegamercabby’ captured it brilliantly on video during the game. Here’s how the crowd reacted to Patrice Bergeron’s tying goal at 19:09 of the third (around the 4:50 mark):

Here’s the stunned reaction from the crowd when Bergeron won the game at 6:05 of overtime; watch its hasty departure as well (goal is around the 2:50 mark):

Now, do yourself a favor and read Bruce Arthur’s incredible column on Game 7, which is twice as emotional as any moving image you just watched here.

Getty ImagesNo. 1 Star: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

Bergeron was the key link to the Bruins' stunning comeback in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Down 4-2 in the third period, Bergeron setup Milan Lucic's goal to cut the Toronto lead to 4-3, then scored the tying goal with 51 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In the extra period, Bergeron skated freely through the Maple Leafs' zone before pouncing on a rebound to give Boston a 5-4 victory and setup a second round date with the New York Rangers.

No. 2 Star: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

When they needed him the most, Lundqvist stepped to the plate. After a 27-save performance during a Game 6 shutout, Lundqvist stopped all 35 shots he faced from the Washington Capitals as the Rangers advanced to the second round with a 5-0 victory in Game 7. According to STATS LLC, Lundqvist is the first goalie to post back-to-back shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of a series since Dominik Hasek did it for the Detroit Red Wings in 2002.

No. 3 Star: Derick Brassard, New York Rangers

Brassard assisted on two of New York's five goals to give him 9 points in the postseason. He was acquired at the trade deadline as part of the deal that sent Marian Gaborik to Columbus.

After a regular season that saw him regain his MVP form, Alex Ovechkin had a frustrating postseason as the Washington Capitals lost in seven games to the New York Rangers.

He pumped 30 shots on Henrik Lundqvist, scoring just one goal, a power-play tally back in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal. For the fourth time in his career, Ovechkin’s Capitals lost in a Game 7 on home ice. The captain has yet to reach the conference finals – and this is eighth NHL season.

Like we said: Ovechkin is frustrated. And that frustration manifested itself in a petulant postgame comment about the officiating in the series, which saw the Rangers win Game 6 without the Capitals receiving a single power play.

Via Slava Malamud of Sport-Express (in a Russian-language interview), Ovechkin said after Game 7:

“The refereeing... You understand it yourself. How can there be no penalties at all (on one team) during the playoffs?

“I am not saying there was a phone call from (the league), but someone just wanted Game 7. For the ratings. You know, the lockout, escrow, the League needs to make profit... I don't know whether the refs were predisposed against us or the League. But to not give obvious penalties (against the Capitals), while for us any little thing was immediately penalized...”

Thus continues Ovechkn’s escrow obsession …

You can’t blame Ovechkin for being frustrated, what with the power play being the Capitals’ meal ticket and the officials canceling that ticket when they don’t whistle the Rangers for any penalties. (Washington had two power plays in Game 7, as did the Rangers.)

But remember when John Tortorella was fined $30,000 for suggesting that the refs “wanted” overtime in the Winter Classic after conspiring with NBC?

Getty ImagesHave you caught your breath yet from a pretty wild first round? Too bad. Round 2 kicks off Tuesday night. Now that the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers complete the second round pairings, here's how the schedule looks:

• Remember, now that we're in Round 2, there are no more local broadcasts of games. In the U.S., NBC, NBCSN and CNBC will have every game.

• According to Steve Lepore, May 25 may feature a pair of Game 5s between the Bruins/Rangers and Red Wings/Blackhawks. One of those games will be played on NBC in primetime should one of those series need at least five games.

• Each series will feature two full days off over the course of the seven games thanks to building availability and television considerations. No games will be played on back-to-back days.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

GettySince joining the Washington Capitals, Alex Ovechkin has played in five Game 7s on home ice. The Capitals have now lost four of them, as the New York Rangers demolished Washington at Verizon Center on Monday night, 5-0, to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals and eliminate the Capitals.

It was the second straight postseason in which the Rangers dropped the Capitals in a Game 7, winning at MSG last year in Dale Hunter’s final game as coach.

New York advances to face the Boston Bruins in the semifinals, who won their own Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night in overtime.

“I think it was probably our best game of the series. Henrik [Lundqvist] was really good early to give us a chance and then I thought we played really well in front of him, right on through our lineup," said Coach John Tortorella. "I didn’t think it was going to be a 5-0 win, the way this series has gone, but it was our best game of the series."

It was the most dominating effort by the Rangers in the series, and by far their best effort in Washington offensively – New York had scored two goals in three games in D.C. before the scoring explosion in Game 7.

Where that scoring came from is as surprising as any facet of the Rangers’ win.

Three years ago Tuesday, the Boston Bruins completed a 3-0 series collapse by blowing a 3-0 first period lead to the Philadelphia Flyers in a Game 7. Three years later, they were on the other end of an dramatic, in-game comeback to save themselves from another series collapse.

Patrice Bergeron's goal 6:05 into overtime finished off the Bruins' turnaround and ended the Toronto Maple Leafs' season, giving Boston a 5-4 win in Game 7.

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The Bruins will move on to the second round to face the New York Rangers.

When Nazem Kadri scored his first playoff goal 5:29 into the third period, the Maple Leafs held a 4-1 lead. Toronto had taken advantage of a flat Boston team and were on their way to a series victory.

It was then that the desperation finally set in for the Bruins.

Nathan Horton scored four minutes after Kadri to cut the Toronto lead to 4-2. Then, with Tuukka Rask on the bench for the extra attacker late in the third