“We know it’s going to be a fight for every inch type of game,” the Washington Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson said just days ahead. His call to arms came just moments after the Caps leveled the series with the Hurricanes after two games. Since then, it has been nothing but a downward spiral for the Metropolitan Division toppers, and the fans now seem to have had it with coach Spencer Carbery‘s pacifier approach.

As the Caps headed to the Lenovo Center for the second time in a span of two days, fans hoped to see the No. 1 seed of the Eastern Conference at least try to tie the series. But all that wishful thinking came crumbling down. The Canes decimated the Washington Capitals 5-2 and established themselves in the driver’s seat with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven-game series. For obvious reasons, the fans have reached their limit.

In a post on X from May 12, Travis Tuthill, the man behind running the official Washington Capitals’ X account, vented his frustration after tonight’s defeat on the road. And all that annoyance was targeted at the head coach. Seemingly, Coach Carbery came off as too easy-going with the team in Tuthill’s eyes, and they advised the former to bring out the beast in him in order to stay in the Stanley Cup contention. “spencer carbery please go into the locker room and just start throwing shit around,” noted the social media update. He demanded that the Washington boss to be more unforgiving.

In the first period itself, Carolina’s Jordan Martinook received a double-minor for high-sticking the Capitals’ Jakob Chychrun. However, the power play that came Washington’s way proved to be of no use as the team barely even managed to get into the offensive zone during the four-minute span, despite already being down 1-0 thanks to Shayne Gostisbehere’s goal from earlier. Obviously, Tuthill was livid. “You had 4 minutes of power play time and couldn’t even get into the f—— zone. Where’s the heart? Where’s the want?” he fumed in his post.

The Washington Capitals’ only two goals of the night came from Alex Ovechkin and Chychrun. On the other hand, four other Canes stars (Seth Jarvis, Taylor Hall, Sean Walker, and Andrei Svechnikov) got their names on the scoresheet. “I saw what everybody in the room saw. It was not good,” Carbery said after the game poised for defeat, and it seems like it’s exactly that kind of attitude that’s gotten on Tuthill’s nerves.

With the latest loss, the Washington Capitals now face the threat of being eliminated from the playoffs. The team last won the Cup back in 2018. This year, with Ovechkin becoming the highest goalscorer in NHL history, many hoped to see the Eastern Conference giants make his feat even better by lifting the ultimate hockey prize. But with three games to go, the Caps clan are struggling with dwindling faith. And it oozed into social media as well.

The Washington Capitals fans are at their wits’ end

Under Tuthill’s post, throngs of Washington Capitals fans gathered to express their exasperation. Naturally, with three defeats in four games, you’d suspect there’s something wrong with the blue line that Carbery needs to fix right away. And yet, fans couldn’t help ponder how things could have been radically different if only Martin Fehérváry were available for the playoffs. The 25-year-old defenseman had a meniscus injury in April and was later announced to be missing out on the playoffs following surgery.

And it seems like he continues to be a name, making the Caps fans feel bad with his absence. “Not having Marty flanking Carlson has exposed how immobile he is now. He looks very slow, everything is a step behind and off the mark,” said one fan, commenting on how not having Fehérváry in the team is also making 35-year-old Jason Carlson look bad.

In the first game of the playoffs between the Caps and the Canes, Carbery’s boys put up a painful display involving a string of mis passes which was so bad to watch, and NHL experts downright discounted Washington as potential Stanley Cup winners. And now, even the fans feel the same. “The seasons over,” lamented one fan. Another fan believes that it’s the team’s blind faith in Carbery’s abilities that’s the reason behind their downfall. “We’ve talked in the past about whether the canes’ system tires out the players and that’s why they struggle later in the playoffs have we considered whether the capitals’ reliance on the power of friendship does the same?” the fan pondered.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Canes thrashed the New Jersey Devils in five games. However, the Washington Capitals fans now think even that was a better show of grit than whatever their team is doing now. “Devils gave more of a fight,” one fan concluded without beating around the bush. But will all that frustration make its way to Carbery’s and the rest of the team’s ears? Will they use the fans’ emotions as the motivation to bounce back in Game 5 when the action heads to Capital One Arena? Tell us your predictions in a comment!