The Hyattsville, Maryland, native secured his fourth career ATP title, and his first since 2023, with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph Sunday over World No. 7 Taylor Fritz at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany.

Tiafoe did not face a single break point in the final and needed just 66 minutes to defeat Fritz for the first time in their last eight meetings.

The title is the biggest of Tiafoe’s career. It is his first tournament win in a 500-level event and will propel him to World No. 19 when the latest ATP rankings are released Monday.

The run also caps off an impressive week for Tiafoe, who defeated three top-10 players at the same event for the first time in his career.

Along the way, Tiafoe beat Roland Garros finalist and World No. 10 Flavio Cobolli in the first round, No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals and No.7 Fritz in the final. Tiafoe saved three match points in dispatching Auger-Aliassime in the quarters.

Tiafoe’s crowning moment becomes the first American to win title in Halle! |

— ATP Tour (@atptour)

A special win on Father’s Day

There is also special meaning for Tiafoe with the win coming on Father’s Day. Tiafoe has long credited his father, Frances Sr., for making his tennis career possible.

Frances Sr. laid the groundwork for Tiafoe’s tennis career, dating back to his time as a maintenance worker at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. Frances Sr. was part of the team that helped build the JTCC, a facility where his twins boys Frances and Franklin spent hours learning and developing into rising tennis players.

“Dad always loved tennis, and he worked around the clock at the JTCC so he could keep that job, and so Franklin and I could have a place to play the game we’d fallen in love with,” .

“I realize now how hard he worked, and how much he sacrificed, to allow my brother and me to chase our dreams and have the life he and my mom wanted us to have — the one they couldn’t have in Sierra Leone.”

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Dave Irvin, Joey Lord and Tom Parker were in their element.

“We speak the same language,” Lord said.

It’s a dialect that will be shared throughout the weekend as Irvin, Lord and Parker prepare to share something else — a special weekend with their Major League sons.

“I’m just so grateful for this,” Irvin said.

For the first time in team history, the Nationals are holding a fathers trip with players and traveling staff members permitted to bring their dad on a big-league road trip to Tampa Bay. That means charter flights, a five-star hotel and the type of behind-the-scenes access typically reserved for those in The Show.

“I got an email about it a few weeks ago,” said Parker, whose son Mitchell is now in his third big-league season. “When I saw the agenda, I was like, ‘Is this for real? Are you serious?!’”

About 25 fathers made the trip, many now meeting for the first time. The itinerary included a day off in Tampa on Thursday with many enjoying a round of golf, time at the pool and a group dinner. The dads will also be in attendance for all three games at Tropicana Field this weekend, with early field access and a chance to play catch with their sons on a big-league field.

“Just seeing him play is rewarding enough,” said Lord, whose son Brad has arguably emerged as the Nationals most valuable reliever. “To come do this for a Father’s Day weekend is even more special.”

According to a team spokesperson, the fathers trip has been in the works for years, with Nationals Executive Director of Player and Family Relations Shawn Bertani taking charge, along with Director of Team Travel Kenny Diaz.

“It’s cool for the dads to be able to get a bit of insight on what we do day in and day out,” said starting pitcher Foster Griffin, whose father Fred came in from Orlando.

“When I was younger, I got to go to work with him and it’s pretty cool to see it on the opposite side and have him come to work with us and see what we do and live our life a little bit.”

Dave Irvin made the trip from Minnesota, despite his son Jake still working his way back from a shoulder injury. Dave concedes that in true “father-of-a-pitcher form,” he mapped out the Nats rotation weeks ago and figured Jake would have pitched on Father’s Day. The injury will ultimately keep Jake sidelined, though it won’t dampen the excitement.

“Every single guy that has their dad here, that was a special bond growing up with the game of baseball,” Jake said. “We’ve done a great job creating a family atmosphere this year and I think getting to know each other away from the ballpark a little bit more, there’s no better way to do it than with actual family.”

Dave suggested that joining the team this weekend will bring him back to Jake’s younger years. As a baseball dad, Dave said, you’re very involved and around the teams of your kids’ youth. As they grow up, and ultimately develop into pros, you take a back seat and watch from afar as a fan.

“But this weekend,” he said, “that changes for a few days. I’m so excited to again be a part of the group, and be a part of the fraternity, and experience what Jake experiences. When I came to the ballpark today, I was just overcome with joy and pride that this is what my son does for a living. Us dads, we are getting an opportunity that very few people get.”

For the players, the weekend provides a rare chance to show dad what life is like behind the curtain. For all the sacrifices their dads made to help get them to the Majors, this is a small glimpse into the payoff.

“It’s the best,” said Nationals reliever Gus Varland, whose father Wade also made the trip from Minnesota. “We didn’t have much growing up but my parents gave us everything they could. It means the world to have my dad be able to experience this. He is beyond pumped.”

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Ted Leonsis has never hidden his skepticism about the glamour of hosting an All-Star Game, often noting that the leagues, not the home teams, run the show and divvy up the best seats.

But with a sweeping, multiyear renovation of Capital One Arena underway in D.C., the owner and chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment says Washington is ready to raise its hand again for the NBA and NHL’s marquee midseason showcases.

“When our building is up and functioning, I would hope we’d be considered for an NBA All-Star Game,” Leonsis told Âé¶ččÙÍű. “The NHL All-Star Game 
 we’d love to be able to host it.”

The Capitals have hosted the NHL All-Star Game only once — in 1982 in Landover, Maryland. The Wizards last hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 2001 in D.C.

Leonsis said bringing the WNBA All-Star Game back for the first time since 2007 is also on his radar.

Leagues rarely spell out a formula for choosing host cities, but new arenas and major renovations typically help push a market to the front of the line.

With more than $800 million in upgrades planned at the Downtown arena, the Capitals, Wizards and Mystics fit that profile. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman toured the site this past season and saw the work firsthand.

“Ted took me on a tour of what’s been done and what’s being planned,” Bettman said in January. “What’s going on here is nothing short of spectacular. And sharing our tent-pole events, our special events with the fans in Washington, with the Capitals, the organization, is always on the table.”

The renovation is expected to wrap ahead of the 2027-28 season, meaning any All-Star bid could still be years away.

Capital One Arena is scheduled to close this summer as work continues. Phase two focuses on new and relocated entrances and a reimagined exterior; that portion is expected to be completed in September 2026, with additional exterior work continuing into 2027.

“Then, we’ll be done and we’ll have a pristine, beautiful, great new experience,” Leonsis said. “And then we can start to bid, and I’ll put my hand up for both of those games.”

Leonsis floated 2031 as an intriguing target for the NBA, the 30th anniversary of the last All-Star Game in Washington.

Still, he said fans should understand what comes with it: The league controls the event and much of the inventory.

“I just have to give the fair warning: It’s not our event. It’s the league’s event, and they are catering to the sponsors,” Leonsis said. “Anybody who has held an All-Star Game always ends up with the hard feelings, ‘I’ve been a season-ticket holder for X years, why can’t I sit in my seats?’ Well, I don’t own the building during the All-Star Game. I don’t own the suites. They give them to all 30 teams.”

He laughed at the memory of learning that lesson during the 2001 NBA All-Star weekend in Washington, when he was an AOL executive with company-held courtside season tickets.

“We were expecting at the All-Star Game that we’d have our same tickets,” he said. “Instead, we were moved to the front row upstairs. The league owns the tickets and the inventory, and they are distributing them as they see best.”

If expectations are clear, Leonsis said the region has plenty of reasons to pursue the events — from national exposure to a surge in visitors.

Like the boost local leaders expect from the NFL draft coming to Washington next April, an All-Star weekend can deliver a significant economic jolt for hotels, restaurants and transit.

the 2024 NHL All-Star Game had a $50-$60 million economic impact on Toronto. The 2025 NBA All-Star Game for the San Francisco Bay Area economy, according to Temple University’s Sports Industry Research Center.

“I think it’s the right thing for the city and the right thing for our team to show off the new building once it reopens,” Leonsis said. “We’ll put our hand up when the time is right.”

More women’s hockey in DC?

Beyond the All-Star talk, there is also buzz around whether Washington could land a women’s professional hockey team.

Leonsis has long touted the growth of women’s sports and owns the WNBA’s Washington Mystics through Monumental.

“We should be the women’s professional sports capital of the world,” Leonsis said. “We want to play that part and be in that role as a leader and innovator.”

He said he has closely monitored the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which launched in 2024 and has discussed expansion publicly.

This past winter, Monumental hosted a neutral-site game between the Montreal Victoire and the New York Sirens as part of the PWHL’s Takeover Tour. The game drew a record 17,228 fans to Capital One Arena at the time, the largest U.S. crowd to watch a women’s hockey game and chant a loud refrain of “we want a team.”

Leonsis said the interest is real, but timing matters.

“We have a couple more years of renovations, so it’s very difficult right now to speak with certainty about expansion and what they’re doing along our timetable,” he said.

After the Takeover Tour stop, Leonsis said he spoke with PWHL executive Stan Kasten about ways to bring more women’s hockey to the District.

“Stan and I did talk about, ‘Hey, this went very well,’ We enjoyed it, they enjoyed it, the players enjoyed it,” Leonsis said. “We should maybe do two games next year, or three games the season after that. We should start to get into a rhythm.”

A full-time team, Leonsis noted, could depend on how the league structures ownership. The PWHL currently operates as a single entity, with teams owned and operated by the Mark Walter Group.

Sources told Âé¶ččÙÍű the league could eventually move away from that model, though no timetable has been set and nothing is imminent. The single-entity approach has been framed by the league as a conservative way to build a foundation for long-term success.

“Given the success of this January’s game in D.C., Monumental has interest in hosting future neutral-site PWHL games and is open to exploring opportunities to bring a team to Washington, D.C., if there were flexibility in the ownership structure,” a Monumental spokesperson said in an email.

“We certainly want to stay close with them,” Leonsis said. “My expectation is that we’ll be a big part of the overall women’s professional sports landscape.”

Museum-like art, memorabilia displays at Capital One Arena

Courtesy Monumental Sports & Entertainment

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Courtesy Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Courtesy Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Courtesy Monumental Sports & Entertainment

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Among the additions at the revamped arena that Leonsis said he’s most looking forward to will be the District Arts Collection — a multimillion dollar curated art and memorabilia collection which will by displayed throughout the arena.

Benefiting from its partnership with — a premier collectible media and marketing services company — Monumental Sports is in the process of gathering historic artifacts that will eventually be displayed for fans to peruse on all levels of the building. The exhibits will include both sports and Americana memorabilia.

“We want to have a museum, we want to have more interactivity through the arena,” Leonsis said.

The issue Monumental has run into when trying to gather memorabilia from their own teams is that very little has actually been preserved by the clubs themselves. It’s a common oversight by many professional franchises, which cllct is working to correct on the fly.

“It’s strange because in some sense, it’s the only part of teams that are worth billions of dollars that isn’t professionalized, because it was never anyone’s job to do it,” said Darren Rovell, the founder of cllct.

Leonsis said that when Monumental began its quest to build museum-like exhibits, he figured it would naturally include items from Michael Jordan’s playing days with the Wizards. He soon found out, though, they didn’t have much in-house.

“We had to hire Darren to go into market to get people to sell us Michael Jordan autographed basketballs, Michael Jordan autographed home and away jerseys,” Leonsis said.

“What we’ve been doing now is trying to be very bespoke on our history. Who were the best players? What did they wear their rookie year? What did they wear the year they retired? What did they wear when they scored their 100th goal? We want to build and amass that type of collection and be able to tell the story in a more interactive, lived way,” he added.

Monumental partnered with Rovell in 2025 with the goal of having museum-like installations in place by fall 2027. Rovell is in constant contact with former players about lending pieces and has also identified a handful of big-time collectors of Capitals and Wizards memorabilia, who are planning to contribute to the arena’s collection.

The original goal structures and nets from Alex Ovechkin’s record-tying and record-breaking 894th and 895th goals have already been obtained and will be among the displays.

“Those goal structures are just not pieces of metal,” Rovell said. “They signify so much.”

Rovell said from his experience that game-used memorabilia can draw in even casual fans, who may remember a special date or game from their own memory bank.

“Game-used is really like the emotion,” Rovell said. “That’s what connects you to the moment. We’re also going to (showcase) it in a display that is meaningful. I think sometimes you have game-used stuff that is not displayed in a way that it deserves. This is museum quality stuff and so giving it the gravitas that it deserves, I think, is going to be a mark of the new Capital One Arena.”

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For the second straight year, a trio of WTEF alums are interning at the — a WTA, or Women’s Tennis Association, 500-level pro tennis tournament.

“It’s a dream come true,” 18-year-old Marcus Phillip said before his first venture overseas. “I’m really excited to get to experience something I know a lot of people my age or my skin color … would just love to experience.”

The interns work across a variety of areas, including guest management and hospitality services, event and tournament operations, and PR, marketing and communications. The days are long and the work is demanding, but the benefits are long lasting.

The Mubadala x WTEF Global Internship Exchange Program pairs WTEF alums with university students from the UAE for hands-on experience at the in July and at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE in February. Each year, the program combines three WTEF alumni and three UAE university students across both events.

“The behind-the-scenes experience is really priceless, particularly for students at that age,” WTEF CEO Candace Smith said. “They are seeing every aspect of the tournaments and how they’re run and getting insider information and insight that hopefully will ignite some interest to go deeper in that field.”

The interns work in a variety of areas, including guest and hospitality services, event and tournament operations, and marketing. The days are long and the work is demanding, but the benefits long lasting.

“I had a very life-changing experience,” said WTEF alum Kobi Sankofa, who went through the internship program last year.

“It’s more than just the work,” he said. “You’ll sometimes have a chance to go off and really connect with the people you’re working with. You make good friends, you learn discipline and responsibility. You pick up real life skills.”

Sankofa, 19, said he has maintained contact with some of the foreign students he met through the program.

“The opportunity to see the Middle East, and to experience a different culture, and then to also work within that context is really something special,” Candace Smith said.

The WTEF offers after-school programming for students ages 5 through 18. On a typical weekday, students receive 90 minutes of after-school academic support and 90 minutes of tennis instruction and athletics.

The WTEF’s stated goal is to build life champions through high-quality tennis instruction, robust academic enrichment and life-enhancing lessons. Alums also receive guidance on resume building, career opportunities and creating their LinkedIn profiles.

Before leaving for his 17-day trip abroad, Phillip reflected on the impact WTEF has had on his life.

“When I was younger, I had a bad temper problem and I wasn’t the average nice kid,” he conceded. “But the adults here and everybody I’ve grown up around have helped me build my personality. 
 Coming here and allowing people to help me, it’s allowed me to realize that this tennis center really (offers) a lot of opportunities. I’m grateful to have been able to take a part in that.”

Phillip is now a freshman at the University of Maryland, where he is a member of the club tennis team and studying cybersecurity.

He also returns to the WTEF Southeast D.C. campus to serve as an instructor for the next generation of WTEF students.

“It’s a really good program that can open your eyes to something bigger,” he said. “It changed my life forever.”

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Rizzo, who was fired last Sunday as the Nationals President and General Manager, has invited fans to enjoy a round of beer on him during a Monday happy hour as a token of his appreciation.

In a social media post Friday, he thanked the fan base and invited them to grab a “Round on Riz,” from 5 to 7 p.m. at Penn Quarter Sports Tavern or Walter’s Sports Bar.

The post came from the , which aims to help pediatric cancer patients and their families.

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Alex Ovechkin recorded his 895th career goal on Sunday in New York to move past Wayne Gretzky into sole possession atop the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring ledger.

Ovechkin beat New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin for the record-setting tally, before his Capitals teammates emptied their bench to celebrate with their captain.

Ovechkin recorded his 895th goal in his 1487th career game. Coincidentally, Gretzky finished his career with 894 goals in 1487 games.

This is a breaking news update. This story will be updated.

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Ovechkin’s second goal Friday — and his 41st of the season — moved him into a tie with Gretzky, who was in attendance at Capital One Arena as the Capitals hosted the Chicago Blackhawks.

“I think what’s happening right now, it’s great for hockey, great for D.C.,” Ovechkin said ahead of Friday’s game. “It’s pretty cool.”

Gretzky had been the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader since passing Gordie Howe on March 23, 1994.

“I’m so proud of the fact that I’m here tonight,” Gretzky said during the first intermission. “I thought yesterday, ‘Gosh, we better get on the plane and get up there because he might get three (goals) tonight.’ When he scored four minutes in I thought, ‘Oh my God, we might be able to leave after the first period.'”

The 39-year-old Russian superstar entered play Friday with a three-game goal scoring streak and with four goals in his prior five games. Any potential burden he may have felt with the extra attention as the record neared was seemingly brushed aside.

“The entire game of hockey is on his shoulders right now,” longtime teammate Tom Wilson said. “There’s guys like me, his teammates, who feel pressure on a nightly basis and this is next level. So to be able to handle that and to continue to perform and lead this team, it’s remarkable.”

The all-time goal scoring record is a fitting milestone for Ovechkin, who burst onto the scene with a 52-goal rookie season in 2005-06 and has seemingly never stopped.

Ovechkin’s first goal Friday secured his NHL-record 14th career 40-goal campaign. He also became the first player in NHL history with at least three 40-goal seasons after turning 35.

On his first of the night, Ovechkin beat Spencer Knight 3:52 in, taking a pass from Dylan Strome behind the net and banking the puck off the far post and the goaltender’s back and in.

Ovechkin was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and is the NHL’s longest-tenured player with one franchise.

His next goal will move him into sole possession atop the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring ledger, as he’ll become the 10th player to hold the distinction and the eighth since Joe Malone pulled ahead in 1921.

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While the pinnacle of Ted Leonsis’ tenure as a sports owner can be easily identified, it might come as a surprise that the night the Capitals won the Stanley Cup also serves as one of his big regrets.

“When we won in 2018, I did not get the adrenaline high of great joy,” Leonsis recently told Âé¶ččÙÍű. “It was more relief.”

Leonsis was relieved for a fan base that had so badly craved a Stanley Cup triumph. He was relieved for Dick Patrick, who spent 35 years as a Caps executive before finally becoming the sixth member of his family to win the Cup. And there was relief, too, for the face of the franchise: Alex Ovechkin.

“I lived in fear that Alex would be the greatest player to never win the Stanley Cup,” Leonsis said. “So, I had all this angst and drive to deliver and when we won the Cup, and even when I was on the ice and I was holding the Cup, it more a sense of ‘Phew! We did it.’ I wish I could have turned up the joy factor more.”

Years removed from that June evening in Las Vegas, Leonsis now said he better appreciates what a championship does for a fan base and a city. It fuels him to win again.

“I promise that we’ll do everything we can to win another Cup,” he said. “I’m going to have the greatest time, this next time.”

25th anniversary of Caps purchase

The competitive fire still burns for Leonsis as much as it did when he first ventured into professional sports a quarter-century ago. Sunday marked 25 years since the Capitals’ original owner and founder, Abe Pollin, formally introduced Leonsis as his successor.

At the time, Leonsis was a 42-year-old internet pioneer, having made much of his wealth as an executive at America Online. He bought the Capitals for $85 million. Today, Forbes Magazine estimates the club’s worth at $1.6 billion.

“There’s the romantic side of the narrative, which is, yes, I was local and I was a season-ticket holder and I was enthusiastic and a family man,” Leonsis said. “But I also had the wherewithal to buy the team in cash and to continue to invest in the team.”

Leonsis said the 25th anniversary of his buying the Capitals is special because it coincides with the team’s upcoming 50th season. The dual milestones provided Leonsis with an opportunity to reflect on his time as an owner, which he concedes didn’t begin as smoothly as he had originally envisioned.

“I was naive in thinking that I could remain just a fan. When you’re a fan, you have all the answers. Then the moment you get to own the team, you realize how hard it is to effect change and improve the quality of play and competitiveness,” he said. “And so, it was very humbling.”

Leonsis recalls the Capitals having a season-ticket base of 2,900 when he took over. In his first five seasons as the team’s owner, the Capitals missed the playoffs twice and lost in the first-round the other three times. Along the way, he spoke with fans to see what could be improved.

“I was given an earful,” he said.

Learning to appreciate the long game

During those early years, when Leonsis heard rumblings that the Capitals should be contracted, he was tempted to fix everything as quickly as possible both on-and-off the ice. Among the early lessons he received as a new sports owner, though, was to stay patient.

Rather than looking for quick fixes via high-priced talent from outside the organization — as the Capitals did in acquiring and signing Jaromir Jagr in 2001 — Leonsis learned to appreciate the long game.

“I get disappointed [over losses], but not bitterly disappointed” like in the past, he said. “That allows you to make more rational decisions rather than emotional decisions.”

Leonsis said he’ll never be fully comfortable in his own skin as an owner: “The moment you’re comfortable, you’ll mess it up,” he said. Still, he can point to certain benchmarks during his time where things turned for the better.

Winning the NHL’s Draft Lottery in 2004 and selecting Alex Ovechkin with the No. 1 pick was a game changer, but having Ovechkin embrace the team and commit long-term had the greatest impact.

“The act of loyalty was incredibly important for the franchise and our ownership group,” Leonsis said.

“We established a very straightforward relationship [with Ovechkin] built on trust. And for this generationally great player to sign with us and spend his entire career with us and win MVPs and goal-scoring championships, it’s really been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We’re going to look back at this era and say, ‘Wow, that was really special.’”

That much became clear to Leonsis as he recently watched a ‘Capitals Classic’ on the sports channel he also now owns — Monumental Sports Network. The featured game from February 2010, included the Capitals and rival Pittsburgh Penguins.

Both teams were loaded with stars, and the Capitals entered the Super Bowl Sunday matinee with the NHL’s best record and in search of a 14th straight win. They were the toast of the NHL.

“It was a thing of beauty,” Leonsis said of a moment he realizes in retrospect captured the growth of the franchise. “Everyone was wearing red; it was riveting, and I was really proud. It was such a moment of arrival. It was on national TV and the amount of respect the announcers were paying to our fans and to the Capitals and the rivalry, it was a wonderful moment.”

It was also the early stages of a sellout streak that spanned 588 consecutive home games from 2009 through 2023. And as the hockey team soared to new heights, Leonsis built a sports empire.

In 2010, he bought the remaining interest in the NBA’s Wizards and the then-Verizon Center from the Pollin family and formed Monumental Sports & Entertainment — the parent company for all his sports holdings.

“We did orchestrate that we would have a path to control the building and the basketball team and that strategy has paid off,” he said. “And we’ve added to it by buying our [television] network. And so, we’ve been — in that 25-year period — very, very aggressive.”

Looking toward the future

Leonsis has also gone from being one of the youngest owners in the four major sports leagues to being one of the most senior and influential. Today, he is also a member of the NHL’s executive committee and Chairman of the Media Committee for both the NBA and NHL.

“I’d say we’ve gone from being outsiders to now being a part of the leadership,” he said. “We’re leaders in many of the important next generation initiatives.”

While Leonsis admits his jubilation was muted the night the Capitals earned their elusive Stanley Cup title, he was able to enjoy the scenes and celebrations that played out in D.C. in the days that followed. The reaction of the fan base resonated.

“The fans, we’ve grown up with them,” Leonsis said, noting the Capitals rank among the NHL’s top-10 revenue earners. “We’ve captured a generation and we built a next generation because of our investment. Now we’re an established team and established market. And I’m hoping to double down. Over the next 25 years, I don’t see why D.C. can’t become the best North American market.”

As Leonsis looks toward the future — with an infusion of $515M coming from The District to modernize Capital One Arena — there’s an eagerness to see what’s in store, given how much has already changed since he first bought the Capitals a quarter-century ago.

“Half the team’s life has been under our leadership,” he said. “I’ll leave it to you to come up with the stats and analytics, but I think we’ve had a pretty good run for the first 25 years.”

Editor’s Note: Ben Raby is the host of the Capitals Radio Network.Ìę

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Backstrom, who turns 36 later this month, underwent hip-resurfacing surgery in June 2022 and returned last January. Backstrom struggled to find his old form this season, averaging just 14:34 of ice-time per game, while managing just one assist in eight games.

On Monday, he reached out to team trainers, general manager Brian MacLellan and head coach Spencer Carbery, expressing his desire to step away due to his chronic hip issues. On Wednesday morning, he addressed teammates before their scheduled practice.

“Given my ongoing injury situation, I decided to take some time and step away from the game,” Backstrom said in a team-issued release. “This is a difficult decision, but one that I feel is right for my health at this time. I want to thank my teammates, the organization and fans for their unwavering support throughout this process. I ask for privacy at this time as I determine my next steps and viable options moving forward.”

The second-longest tenured athlete among D.C.’s pro sports teams, Backstrom ranks among the Capitals’ all-time leaders in most statistical categories.

“We stand behind Nicklas and will support him throughout this process,” MacLellan said in a statement. “We know firsthand how hard he has worked and how determined he is to get back to full health. Our organization stands fully behind him while he takes his leave of absence from the team to evaluate his current health situation.”

Carbery said it was difficult to watch Backstrom tell the team he was stepping away.

“You can tell he wants to continue to play and wants to be there for them right now and be battling through, but he just physically can’t right now,” Carbery said. “When you see someone describing that to their brothers, it tugs at your heart of how much it means to him and how much all his teammates mean to him, so it was difficult.”

Backstrom was just the second NHL player to come back from the operation.

Capitals defenseman John Carlson said of Backstrom: “We’re supporting him, following whatever is going make him happy and however he feels that is going to make his body feel the best, and that’s the decision that he makes.”

Beginning with Backstrom’s rookie season in 2007-08, the Capitals reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 14 of the last 16 seasons, while capturing 10 division titles, three Presidents’ Trophies, and the Stanley Cup in 2018.

Backstrom is the Capitals’ all-time assists leader and has recorded 1,033 points in 1,105 career games. He ranks second in franchise history in points, games played, power-play points and overtime goals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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“I feel like a proud father watching all of my boys out there,” Holley told Âé¶ččÙÍű soon after Howard clinched the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament title last Saturday to earn an automatic NCAA berth.

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The conference title, and the subsequent invite to the Big Dance, are the first for Howard since the Bush administration
 That would be the George H.W. Bush administration.

Thirty-one years later, the Bison are back and members of Howard’s last MEAC championship team have a special affinity for the current group.

“The eerie thing about it is that this team is reminiscent of the team we had in 1992,” said Holley, a senior guard on that Howard team and the 1992 MEAC Tournament MVP. “They play deep – nine-10 individuals – they play full-court pressure the entire game. They have great coaching and they persevered and have overcome adversity and all the obstacles that came their way.”

The similarities don’t end there. Holley couldn’t help but feel he was reliving his own experience from the 1992 MEAC Championship while watching last week’s conference final.

With an NCAA berth at stake last weekend in Norfolk, Howard’s Jelani Williams sank a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining to give the Bison the lead. It was a Howard defensive stop and a missed shot at the buzzer from Norfolk State that sealed a 66-65 HU win.

HOWARD IS DANCING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 31 YEARS!

— ESPN (@espn)

In the same building 31 years earlier, Holley sank a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining to give the Bison the lead. A Howard defensive stop and a missed shot at the buzzer from Florida A&M sealed a 67-65 Bison win.

Even the matchup in the NCAA tournament is the same as it was 31 years ago, 16th-seeded Howard facing the No.1 Kansas Jayhawks.

“If someone doesn’t believe in karma, or everything going in circles, this is a testament to that,” said Holley, who has been celebrating this latest milestone with other members of the ‘92 team on a text thread created at a reunion in 2018.

“Speaking on behalf of all of my 1992 MEAC Championship team, on behalf of the coaches and players who went through it, we’re all texting [this week] I think we could all say how proud we are that the 31-year drought is finally over.”

Holley says he reached out to Howard head coach Kenny Blakeney to personally congratulate him on guiding this year’s team to heights not seen in decades. Until this year, Howard had just one winning season since 2002. There is a belief, though, both on Howard’s campus and among alumni that the foundation is being laid for sustained success.

This isn’t just a good team, Holley says. It’s a good program.

“Anyone who followed this team, saw this coming and saw this opportunity coming. But what I’m most proud of and what I think others can be proud of is that [Blakeney] is not only building a team, but he’s also building young men to be involved in the community there at Howard University. Not only on court, but off the court as well. He’s building young men, and oh by the way, they just happen to be a great team.”

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We wanted to know what Zimmerman was like behind the scenes — from an unassuming rookie to a key cog and veteran leader on a World Series winning team. What were the traits that made him a unanimously beloved teammate? What allowed him to come through in the clutch as often as he did? And what are the memories that those who knew him best during his playing career still think about today?

• Celebrating Ryan Zimmerman: 11 great moments with No. 11

Zimmerman spent his entire 16-year career with the Nationals, ultimately emerging as the franchise leader in several statistical categories, including games played, hits, home runs and RBIs. He also etched his place in the community through several philanthropic efforts, including his creation of the ziMS Foundation, whose mission is to help find a cure for multiple sclerosis.

Below is a sampling from over 20 interviews we conducted with Zimmerman’s former teammates and bosses. They also provided perspective on the fittingness of Zimmerman being the first National to have his jersey number retired.

JIM BOWDEN (GENERAL MANAGER 2005-2009)

I was the first GM in Washington Nationals history and oversaw the team’s first Amateur Draft in 2005. We had the fourth overall pick in that draft. We felt at the time that the first draft pick of the team should be a player that could be the future face of the franchise on and off the field.

Zimmerman checked all the boxes. On the field, he was a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman, had the special ‘hit’ tools and looked like the power would come in time. More importantly, he had the makeup and character to represent the organization for years to come in a first-class manner. He was quiet, humble and had tremendous lead-by-example leadership qualities. He lived up to all of them.

Selecting him in one of the deepest and most talented drafts in history was easy, but the decision was not unanimous among the team’s brain trust. However, it was Dana Brown, Bob Boone and myself that made the decision that Zimmerman was the right player to select.

We drafted him in June and promoted him to the Major Leagues in September against the wishes of the Major League staff, who didn’t think he could be ready. ÌęHe played in 20 games that year and hit .397 in 62 plate appearances.

I’ll never forget walking him into the Nationals clubhouse for the first time and saw how nervous he was to meet his manager and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. His work ethic, processes, poise, composure, leadership and demeanor all graded out 80 out of 80 on the scouting scale.

Special player. Special human being.

BRIAN SCHNEIDER (CATCHER 2005-2007)

After we drafted Zim, Jim Bowden was throwing out all kinds names like Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt, so we thought he was crazy. But, you know what, once we got to see Zim and we saw him play defense, he was pretty darn good over there. I tell kids I coach today, I wish they could have seen Ryan in his first couple of years at third base and how good he was — how you couldn’t bunt on him. He was as good as anyone coming in on the slow rollers. And his range and his strong arm — man, he was good.

I remember when he first came up in 2005. When guys are young and they come up, you could test them out. You’ll see if they’ll do things for the veterans, you’ll see how he reacts when you mess with him a little bit. But from the very beginning, we couldn’t get mad at the guy. He did everything we asked. He handled all the jokes like a pro. And the way he reacted, I took to him. We started taking him for dinners and we took care of him. And we saw early on, nothing fazed him. He was hitting homers and hitting walk-offs against the Yankees, and as tough situations rose up, he did as well. So we knew from the very beginning that he was going to be a darn good player for a long time.

MANNY ACTA (MANAGER 2007-2009)

Zim was not only a manager’s dream, he was a franchise’s dream. A lot of franchises are able to get first-round picks to be talented on the field, but Zim was not only talented on the field, but also an outstanding human being in the clubhouse and off the field. It’s like hitting the jackpot.

Throughout the years, he handled himself with so much class, especially those years when we were rebuilding. He never complained about the state of the franchise. He could have rocked the boat, but he didn’t. He reaped those benefits by winning a World Series, and I was so happy for him. If anybody deserved to win a World Series, it was Ryan Zimmerman. He had been through the good, the bad and the ugly in D.C. So, it was a very fulfilling moment for me to see him do that.

He’s the definition a true franchise player. He helped the younger guys; he didn’t try to minimize them or haze them.

He’s a great gentleman of this game.

TYLER CLIPPARD (PITCHER 2008-2014)

Ryan’s natural baseball IQ was just through the roof. He knew the strike zone and he knew what pitchers were trying to do to him. And if he got his pitch, I swear, he did not miss it. He would go up there, and he would just relentlessly sell out on a certain pitch — and listen, hitters do this all the time, but every time he was selling out on a pitch and he got it, he’d hit it. And a lot of times for a double or a home run. I used to call right-center gap in Nationals Park ‘Zimmerman’s Gap,’ because he’d either go off the wall or homer to right-center all the time.

His ability in the clutch, there were so many moments that found him and he never wavered. He was always the same guy. Always the same approach. That’s why he came through in those moments so many times. It was kind of normal for him. He was just comfortable in those moments. Everyone wanted to see that — his teammates, the fans. And it was interesting how those moments seemed to find him so many times.

Those years — ’08, ’09, 2010 — I was booking Ryan to be a surefire Hall of Famer. He was the full package.

Defensively, oh my gosh. I still to this day think of the foul balls that he would run down, down the left field line towards the tarp, and the over-the-shoulder flip catches where I’m like, ‘How does he even see the ball?’ And he would make these catches look so routine.

JIM RIGGLEMAN (BENCH COACH/MANAGER 2009-2011)

As a manager, there was always a real comfort level with Ryan. Not unlike when I could write the names of Tony Gwynn or Mark Grace into a lineup, when I had Ryan it was a very similar situation. You came to the ballpark and you could go right to that spot in the lineup. You knew every day you could put him in there and work around that. You may have had question marks in the lineup, but you never had question marks there. You could count on him every day.

He was just very polished in all aspects in the game. Offensively with the bat, but he was also a great base runner. He understood game situations: when he should run, when he should not run. He was very easy to manage. If you asked him to do something, he did it.

When I came on as the bench coach in 2009, they were negotiating his contract. So, the first few days of spring training some guys were there, but the mandatory reporting day hadn’t come up yet, so he only came in a couple of days after signing his contract. What was amazing was that he came in and he was not a guy that did a great deal of hitting in the offseason, but he literally — and they used to (say) this about Willie Mays — he could get out of bed in January and hit. He didn’t lose his stroke.

I saw that with Ryan on two or three occasions where he got shut down for an injury, and when he came back, you’d put a plan in place for him to go to the minor leagues for a rehab stint. And he would say, in a very respectful manner, ‘You know, I really don’t need much of that.’ He would maybe take a day or two and play in a rehab whereas some guys would go five, six, seven days. He just didn’t lose his swing. His timing, he had a high-leg kick, he had a lot going on there, but he never lost it. He could literally come to spring training on the first day and get his hits.

CRAIG STAMMEN (PITCHER 2009-2015)

The thing I remember the most about being his teammate was how great of a teammate he was, not only on the field, but off the field too.

When he signed that big contract, a lot of responsibility fell on his shoulders. People calling him ‘Mr. National’ and ‘Mr. Walk-Off’ and all that, but he always stayed humble and remembered that his first duty was to the rest of his teammates and helping them enjoy the Big Leagues with him and enjoy building that franchise into a winner. I’ll always remember how he took care of us — always open to inviting us to his house, inviting us out to dinner. And then at the park, always doing what he could to help us win. One of the best teammates I’ve ever had.

What I remember most about Ryan when I was pitching is how he’d lay his body on the line at third base to save a hit or save a few runs for me. I will never forget how good a third baseman he was. It was special.

He was the one or two guys on the team that made us feel like we were a real big league team and that we had a legit shot to go up against the league’s best. We had a lot of young guys that were still figuring things out, and I remember when I got called up for my (MLB) debut, I was the oldest guy in the starting rotation. Everyone else was younger, so we got thrown into the fire together, but he was the one guy that had the talent to get us through those rough patches so that when we all finally gained enough experience to have success in the big leagues, that we would be ready to start winning games and winning divisions.

DREW STOREN (PITCHER 2010-2015)

I was super-young when I first came up, and I remember how he took me under his wing. He invited me to go for dinner, and I’ll never forget going to his house for the first time and his Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards were just sitting there on his bar. Not that I ever had a chance to win any of those awards, but probably the last place I’d put them would be on a bar. That just blew my mind. If I had those awards, I’d have some nice glass case built into my house that was locked, but for him, no, it was just sitting right there. On a bar. But that’s Zim.

He treated everybody — wherever they fell on the relative food chain — with respect. It would be easy for a guy like that, who put the organization on the map, to kind of turn his back on a young guy like me. Kind of maverickish — that’s how I was. But he took me under his wing, and he just led by example and treated everyone with respect. It meant a lot to me as a young guy to have a guy like that be so welcoming. It was a matter of getting it, and he’s a guy that’s certainly the epitome of getting it.

With his ability and his talent and his accomplishments, he had every right to have a big ego and to act like he was better than everybody else. But that was the furthest thing from the way he went about his business. I think that says a lot about him as a person and as a teammate.

DENARD SPAN (OUTFIELDER 2013-2015)

I remember watching the Nationals in those early years — ’07, ’08. I was just starting in the league, and they were not exactly the team that everyone wanted to model themselves after. But he was one of the early bright spots of the organization, and he took on that role of being the man of that franchise. So it really all started with him. As the other draft picks and the talent starting to mature, it became a model franchise, but it started with him.

During my three years in Washington, there were a lot of personalities on the team. We had Jayson Werth — everybody knows his personality. We had Bryce Harper, and everyone knows his personality. And we also had a lot of younger highly touted prospects just figuring things out. But then you look over, and there’s Ryan Zimmerman, and I felt like he was just the glue to the team. He was steady, mellow, even-keeled, and I just feel like he was a guy that everyone could look to when things got too high or too low. We would follow his temperature. And when we saw the way he worked and competed, it just elevated everybody’s game. He made everybody else want to fall in on line and jump on his train.

MATT WILLIAMS (MANAGER 2014-2015)

The year we made the adjustment to move him to first base (in 2015), he worked extremely hard, because he took his defense seriously. He wanted to contribute on that end as well. It wasn’t just the offensive side.

It was a lot of long days in spring and a lot of extra work was involved in getting him prepared. He transitioned very well. And a position change, especially when you’ve won a Gold Glove at the (previous) position, it’s not easy to change. But it was necessary for him, and he embraced it. The reason that he was so successful was because of the fact that he did embrace it. He took it very seriously. It was very important for him to be good in every aspect of the game, a leader and good player and somebody that the team could rely on.

For me, the telling sign of him and the way he is, is his field — Ryan Zimmerman Field, right next to Nationals Park. He was the first one with the organization to create (a field in his name). We worked with Under Armor on creating it, and the giveback to the community and the appreciation of everybody being supportive of him is the true trait that I take.

Sure, lots of hits, lots of great plays, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, those are baseball things. But the man, that particular thing is what stands out to me — that he was willing to help the community. He certainly did a lot of work within the community and wanted to continue his legacy in that area and be part of all the kids’ joy and the parents’ joy that they could come out and play on the field.

DANIEL MURPHY (INFIELDER 2016-2018)

Zim and I were locker mates, and I just appreciated how steady he was. I was impressed with how physically put together he was and how intent he was on eating properly and lifting and doing all things necessary to take care of his body. And when we played together, he was put together. He worked hard. That was something I got to observe. He had a guy who prepared his meals, and I ended up getting the same guy. Zim spurred me forward with that. When you see your teammate willing to make those sacrifices, I was like, ‘Well, what’s my excuse?’ So he actually really pulled me forward. He was really put together. And that’s a choice. But he made that choice. He was a physical specimen. He pushed me to be better.

On the field, I remember one time he got Clayton (Kershaw) in L.A. in a day game. And he had been waiting for a breaking ball for a couple of days. You know, we go to L.A. and we see ‘OK, Clayton on Sunday.’ And then in his first at-bat, he got him. He homered. I was on-deck and he came through as he hit home plate, he had just given us a 1-0 lead, and he had this look on his face like: ‘Man, I’ve been waiting for that pitch for two days! And I got it and I didn’t miss it!’ And he slapped my hand and he went into the dugout. I remember the look on his face of someone setting a goal and executing the plan perfectly. There was just exhilaration and exuberant joy. That was awesome.

Zim was so unique because he would look for breaking balls. I almost exclusively stayed on the fastball. So to hear him say: ‘Yeah I’m going to look for this breaking ball in this spot, and I’m not going to come off of it. I’m going to stay on it the whole way.’ That was unique. I was unwilling to do it. But he’d have a plan. And if he’s looking for a breaking ball early, he’s going to take it the whole way. But when he’d get it, he’d unleash these salacious swings on it. We would talk about it. ‘What are you looking for?’ And he’d say he’s looking for a certain pitch, and not leaving until he gets it. Then he’d get it and he wouldn’t miss it.

ADAM EATON (OUTFIELDER 2017-2020)

Zim always just sat on a different chair. If you were a headliner or a good player, you always seemed to take a chair behind him. Whenever he said something in the clubhouse, it was heard. Zim just had that feel in the clubhouse and the respect (from his teammates). If he said something, he was doing it himself. And for me, that’s what a leader is.

I think if one thing resonates with me is when we were 19-31 and we were struggling early in ’19. I just remember we came in after a loss. Zim came in and yelled: ‘Who cares?! On to the next game. Nobody freakin’ cares about us.’ And he basically meant there was no team in our division that was going to feel sorry for us. We’re the most talented team in the division. No one is saying, ‘Oh, the poor Nationals.’ And he was really raising his voice, and when he’d raise his voice like that, everyone was quiet.

And he was usually one of the last ones off the field, so we’re all sitting there in the clubhouse wondering how did we lose another game, and he comes in and says, ‘Who freakin’ cares?!’ I think that helped turn everyone around. The only people that will turn this around are us. Nobody is going to lay down for us. That always resonated for me, because I feel that guys that are a little more vocal in the clubhouse at certain times, if they continue to talk, it becomes a little bit of white noise and it resonates less. But when he stepped up, for me that truly helped us spin that season around. I think everyone kind of looked in the mirror. We’d all follow Zim into any battle. His words just carried more.

It’s almost like a father. He doesn’t yell at you all the time, but when he does, it means something. Zim wouldn’t say a whole heck of a lot and would sometimes allow situations to get overcooked. But then when he finally did (speak), everyone would take a step back, take a seat and listen to what he had to say. He’d always pick the right time. He never overstepped his boundaries, never said too much, would always say the right words. One of the most impressive guys I played with — just how he could a hold a room. He wouldn’t say a word for a month, but then he could then hold a room for a 15-minute session. It’s a credit to how he went about the game.

SEAN DOOLITTLE (PITCHER 2017-2020, 2022)

In 2005, we played together at Virginia, but when I got traded over here in ’17, it had been a while since I had seen him. And I remember I met the team in Anaheim and I got to the field super-early that day. And he was one of the first players to get there. It was right after he had broken the franchise home run record, so I went over to him and I was like, ‘Bro, Mr. Home Run King can I have your autograph?!’ Sort of razzing him. And he just smiled and rolled his eyes. But right away, you could tell it was the same guy I played with in 2005 at school. All of the success that he had, and everything he’s meant to the franchise, he was still the same guy. And to me, that was really cool.

It was so calming for me to interact with him and be like, ‘Oh, this is the guy I remember,’ and kind of fall right back to the last time we were teammates, 12 years before. For me, it was my first time getting traded, first time walking into a different major league clubhouse. I was super-nervous, and he was like the same dude I knew in 2005, and I said to myself, ‘OK, I’m good.’ Having it be just like I remembered in 2005 right off the bat, I was like, ‘OK cool.’ And I know he does that for a lot of guys — new guys, old guys that would come here, but that’s Zim. He’s the calming presence, the veteran leader that welcomes guys in and leads by example.

KURT SUZUKI (CATCHER 2012, 2019-2020)

With Zim, he’s the epitome of a professional. He plays the game the right way and is a great teammate. But he’s also a great teacher. With some of the young guys that we had (in 2012) — Bryce Harper, Steve Lombardozzi, Danny Espinosa — you see Zim. The way he taught them, he was like an extra coach. To learn from a guy like Zim with his Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, that’s a pretty cool thing and something I noticed when I first came over in 2012.

Whether he was starting or coming off the bench to pinch-hit, watching him prepare for an at-bat, how he studies the pitchers and how he studies the pitch sequences, it’s pretty incredible. Obviously he has the talent, but you can understand why he was such great hitter. He almost thinks along with the pitcher, watching him throughout the game. His baseball IQ is off the charts.

I’ll never forget the three-run homer that he hit against the Dodgers in Game 4 (in 2019) to give us a Game 5 in L.A. I was on-deck. Max [Scherzer] was dealing, we were up one. He came up. The wind had been howling, and the ball was starting to get knocked down a little bit, but he absolutely destroyed a high fastball off Pedro Baez. And we didn’t know if it would go out because of the wind, but this thing just cut across the wind, and it gave us a comfortable lead. It gave us a feeling of ‘OK we got this.’ And I was on-deck thinking: ‘Of course! Why wouldn’t he be the guy to do this?!’ He’s done it before. He’s been here for all the ups and downs, and it’s just fitting for Zim to come up with clutch hit after clutch hit after clutch hit. It was just awesome. He could thrive in those situations. His mentality, understanding the situation, not letting it get too big. That was Zim.

BRIAN DOZIER (INFIELDER 2019)

He’s the ultimate guy that every franchise wants leading the pack and representing them on and off the field. Zim is a buttoned-up guy when it comes to being the face of the franchise. But behind the scenes, especially when he gets on the good bourbon, he can let loose a little bit.

So in 2019, what got us going a little bit was the whole (postgame celebratory) shirtless thing. And if I’m going to be frank, maybe sometimes it was a little more than just the shirt, but Zim loved it. It was kind of his idea when I bounced it off of him. And Zim and I have talked about this, but you can’t recreate what we had. (The 2019 season) was the most fun we had, and it was led by Zim from the get-go.

We had this thing after wins where we would take our shirts off and run around (and) do a line dance (in the clubhouse), and that was even back at the end of May when we were the worst team in baseball. Anibal Sanchez was kind of the ringleader of the dance, and eventually the whole team got into it. Zim was all for it.

On the road, Zim was our main guy on the bus. Everywhere we landed, he’d get on the microphone on the bus and do his thing. We had a little text message thing, where you’d text him on the bus, and he’d have to read (over the mic) whatever was texted. Everything remains confidential. The sender is never revealed, so it’s basically just ragging on teammates and keeping everyone laughing. We had to have that every time we landed. Zim was that guy. He led that charge. Everyone just kind of looked to Zim for any kind of team meeting or to get us going in the right direction.

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The WTA-250 level tournament will include 32 competitors in singles and 16 doubles teams. It will run simultaneously to the ATP-500 level tournament from July 30 – Aug. 7.

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While D.C. has been a fixture on the men’s circuit since 1969, the Citi Open also included WTA fields from 2011-2019.

“We’re thrilled that the WTA Tour is coming back to Washington,” Citi Open Chairman Mark Ein said in a phone interview.

“One of the great things about the sport of tennis is that it’s the only major professional sport where men and women compete on the same big stages, and our stage in Washington is one of the biggest in the sport. To have a combined event again has been a huge priority for us and we’re thrilled.”

The WTA’s presence in D.C. means the Citi Open joins the U.S. Open, plus Masters tournaments in Miami, Indian Wells and Cincinnati as the only combined events in the country featuring both men’s and women’s fields.

D.C. was not originally included on the WTA’s itinerary for 2022, but when the Auckland Open in New Zealand was canceled due COVID-19 in January, there was an appetite to stage a 250-level tournament elsewhere within the calendar year. The Citi Open was a logical fit.

While the WTA’s presence in Washington isn’t guaranteed beyond this summer, Ein said it’s the goal of the Citi Open to create a long-term partnership.

“We’re committed to having this be a full combined event long into the future,” he said. “We have a great solution for this summer but we’re already working on the long-term situation.”

With the expansion of the Citi Open to include the WTA tournament, the entire event will consist of nearly 50% more matches. To accommodate the increased volume, daytime sessions are expected to begin at noon — two hours earlier than at last year’s ATP-only event.

“There’s going to be almost double the amount of matches, so it’s a real boom to fans because there’s more content and there’s more great players,” Ein said.

Player fields for both the men’s and women’s tournaments will be released in the coming weeks. Last year’s Citi Open set attendance records in Rock Creek Park with former world No.1 and 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal among the headliners.

Ein anticipates a strong turnout for this year’s WTA field as well.

“Our city has embraced women’s tennis, frankly since we brought World Team Tennis here in 2008,” said Ein, who also owns the WTT’s Washington Kastles.

“The players love coming here. It’s the perfect stop. For many of the Europeans, with the next stop on the Tour being in Canada, it’s a great way to get back to [North America]. And they love playing here in front of our fans. They love the event, they love the stadium. I know we’re going to have an exceptional field.”

Past WTA tournaments at the Citi Open have for some of the game’s best players. Americans Sloane Stephens (2015) and while 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu secured her first career WTA match win in D.C. in 2017.

“That’s one of the great things about the event,” said Ein, “is you get to see a lot of great players who are already great and then you see some younger players who will become great.”

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The Capitals have shown these elements in bursts, but they haven’t shown them consistently enough. That’s why they suddenly find themselves on the brink of elimination, trailing the Panthers three games to two in the best-of-seven series.

Game 6 is Friday at Capital One Arena.

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“You’ve got to win a hockey game,” Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette said Thursday in Florida. “There’s things that we’ve done well in this series, and then there’s things that we haven’t done well 
 We’ve got to take those things that we’ve done well and the positives and bring that for a more consistent amount of time.”

To Laviolette’s point, the Capitals looked good to start Game 5 on Wednesday. Washington built a 3-0 lead early in the second period and were seemingly well positioned to take a 3-2 series lead.

Undisciplined play with the puck, though, combined with defensive breakdowns, opened the door for the Panthers to claw their way back. Florida ultimately rallied with five unanswered goals in an eventual 5-3 win.

“We gave the game away,” veteran forward Nicklas Backstrom said.

The Panthers are the NHL’s highest scoring team in 26 years, having averaged 4.14 goals per game during the regular season.

Florida’s quick-strike offense feasts off turnovers and the ability to transition up ice with pace. The Capitals played into that game Wednesday with several miscues that led directly to Florida goals.

“We got caught on a couple of mistakes of us not making the play,” conceded Capitals winger T.J. Oshie. Oshie scored twice in Game 5, but also committed a neutral zone turnover moments before the Panthers got on the board at 6:50 of the second period.

“In a couple of instances, there was a goal five or 10 seconds [after a miscue],” Oshie said. “Kind of shot ourselves in the foot. They’re a great team. Can’t give them offense. They’re going to find a way to create something on their own. For a lot of the game, I like the way we played. It’s unfortunate we didn’t show up on the scoreboard and that they took advantage of their chances.”

For the second straight game, Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe scored the eventual game-winning goal after a costly Capitals turnover. In Game 4 at Capital One Arena, Verhaeghe and the Panthers converted in overtime soon after Capitals rookie Connor McMichael lost control of the puck in the neutral zone. In Game 5, Verhaeghe stole the puck from Dmitry Orlov inside the Panthers zone before quickly transitioning up ice and eventually beating Ilya Samsonov for the go-ahead marker in the third period.

“If you play against a team like Florida that is a high-octane team, we’re just feeding them,” Laviolette said. “And we can’t.”

“There should be a lot of confidence from the things that we have done well in the series, the games that we have won, the times that we played well. But you really have to work for a clean game against a team like Florida, who’s dynamic with what they do.”

The Panthers led the NHL with 29 comeback wins during the regular season, including a League-record five comebacks by three-or-more goals. Now the Cardiac Cats have entered the postseason chat. Come-from-behind wins in Games 4 and 5 have the Panthers on the verge of completing an in-series comeback after trailing Washington two games to one.

While the Panthers are looking to advance to the second round for the first time since 1996, the Capitals will look to avoid a fourth consecutive first-round exit.

“We’ve got to reset here,” Oshie said. “You obviously don’t want to be down 3-2, especially when we felt like we had a chance to go up 3-1 in [Game 4]. You’ve just got to regroup. We’ve got a veteran group in there and a bunch of guys with great character.”

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The same Capitals who spent the final 62 days of the regular season in the second wild card spot are in the driver’s seat against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers.

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“I think something you realize when you’re a little older, it doesn’t matter where you’re seeded,” veteran center Nicklas Backstrom said before the series began. “In the playoffs, anything can happen.”

That the Capitals lead the series is noteworthy in itself. But how the Capitals are doing it may be most impressive. The Capitals didn’t escape Games 1 and 3 as the benefactors of some puck luck. They haven’t relied on their goalies to steal games. Simply put, they’ve been the better team.

Beginning in Game 1, the Capitals have shown the blueprint for a potential upset with solid play defensively. Florida finished the regular season as the NHL’s highest scoring team in 26 years.

In Washington’s series opening win, the Capitals limited the Panthers’ speed and transition game through the neutral zone. They created (and capitalized on) turnovers and forced the Panthers to ice the puck as their options closed. The Capitals have successfully slowed the Panthers for much of the series, with the exception coming in the second half of Florida’s 5-1 win in Game 2.

The Capitals responded in Game 3 Saturday with a 6-1 win of their own as they again held the Panthers’ high-octane offense in check. Before a sellout crowd at Capital One Arena, the Capitals received timely saves from Ilya Samsonov, won the special teams battle and had a balanced attack with six different goal scorers. They also brought plenty of physicality — another common theme in the series- and appeared to frustrate the Panthers as the game wore on.

“They’re putting a lot of pressure on themselves,” Panthers Interim Coach Andrew Brunette said of his team after Game 3. “We’re trying to alleviate it. But it’s something they have to go through. We’ve got to find a way to be free. Maybe getting pounded here will kind of loosen us up a little bit.”

The upstart Panthers finished with the best overall record during the regular season and set franchise records across the board for most wins (58) and points (122). A late-season 13-game winning streak was also a franchise best. Adversity in the second half of the season was limited. The playoffs are proving to be a different story.

Consider that the Panthers were 39-0-1 during the regular season when leading at the second intermission. In the series opener, the Capitals rallied from a 2-1 second-intermission deficit and beat Florida 4-2.

The Panthers’ power play ranked fifth on the circuit during the regular season. Washington is a perfect 9-for-9 on the penalty kill in the series.

The Panthers finished 22 points clear of the Capitals in the Eastern Conference standings. Yet the Capitals are playing with a quiet confidence in this first-round series.

As Alex Ovechkin noted before the series began, it’s a clean slate come postseason time.

“It’s going to be totally different games than the regular season,” Ovechkin said. “Obviously, they have a very solid group of guys, best team in the regular season. But in the playoffs, it’s going to be different. It’s going to be a different mindset. It’s going to be different speed. It’s going to be a different battle level.”

The Capitals are showing the value of that battle experience. The Panthers, who last won a playoff series in 1996, are still figuring it out.

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Tom Wilson is out with a lower-body injury and will not play Game 2 against the Florida Panthers.

“We always hope for the best with players,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “He’s listed as day-to-day. We hope to see him down the road.”

Wilson opened the scoring in Game 1 Tuesday with an early power-play goal, but only played three first-period shifts spread across 91 seconds.

He had career highs during the regular season with 24 goals and 52 points in 78 games.

“You can’t replace Tom,” said Caps winger T.J. Oshie. “Especially in playoffs, he is one of our most important players because of his ability to play physical, his ability to score big goals, his ability to penalty kill, (to play on the) power play — he is just a guy you cannot replace.”

In addition to Wilson’s versatility and on-ice production, the 6’4” tall, 220-pound power forward brings intangibles.

“His presence in the room is very influential to our team,” Oshie said. “We are hoping for the best. I think everyone knows he is a pretty tough guy, so hopefully he will be out there with us in a couple nights — and if not, it is next man up like it always is.”

In the Capitals’ case, that means an opportunity for rookie Brett Leason. A second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Leason was recalled from AHL Hershey and will make his NHL postseason debut in Game 2.

“Obviously very excited,” said Leason, who had three goals and six points in 36 games with the Capitals this season. “Very fortunate to get this chance. Hope I can make the most of it.”

Leason has split time this season between the Capitals and the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. The 6’5,” 218-pound winger made his NHL debut in October and was in the lineup for all three regular-season meetings against Florida.

Laviolette spoke with Leason Thursday morning and said “He was really calm.”

The coach added: “We went over the pre-scout and the systems and things that happened in the first game. Pretty levelheaded kid. But I’m sure tonight, as it ramps up and you go out on the ice with the fans the way they were last game and the noise in the building, it becomes really exciting. Once you get into it, it’s just hockey. It’s just that initial bang that you take in for the first time.”

The Capitals were encouraged by their ability to slow Florida down in their series-opening 4-2 win. Leason has proven to be responsible defensively, one of the reasons he’ll be in the lineup against the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season.

Leason will play on a fourth line with Johan Larsson and Nic Dowd. Leason, who hasn’t played a postseason game at any level since the 2019 Memorial Cup with the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders, said he feels he earned this opportunity.

“It’s been crazy,” he said of his journey as a pro. “I think this season, I took some big strides. Obviously playing my first game, scoring my first goal, just being part of the team — I feel like my development from the start of the season to now, I’m happy with it. And the Caps should be happy with it too.”

Below is the Capitals’ anticipated lineup for Game 2 in Florida:

Front lines

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Sheary

Johansson-Backstrom-Oshie

Mantha-Eller-Hathaway

Larsson-Dowd-Leason

Defensemen

Fehervary-Carlson

Orlov-Jensen

van Riemsdyk-Schultz

In goal

Vanecek

Samsonov

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