As if to emphasize what would come next, Nicklas Backstrom paused and prefaced that his response would be an “honest answer.” “Yes,” he then said simply. Yes, there were nights in past seasons when he worried that if he and Alex Ovechkin didn't score, the Washington Capitals wouldn't win. Yes, that was a pressure that they embraced at the time as the team's star players, he said, but yes, it could be an emotional burden, too.

It's one that's now been mostly lifted, and yes, the team as a whole is likely better for it. In a second season under coach Barry Trotz, Backstrom and Ovechkin are still the faces of the Capitals franchise, but others have been added.

Offseason acquisitions T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams and the development of young center Evgeny Kuznetsov have taken some of the scoring load off Ovechkin and Backstrom. A deeper defense with Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, free-agent signings before last season, and Braden Holtby's evolution into one of the NHL's top goaltenders have made Washington more than just an offensive juggernaut.

That balance on the ice and also in the locker room has propelled the Capitals to the league's best record and a season in which anything less than a Stanley Cup will be considered unsuccessful. Yes, the Capitals have disappointed in the past with early postseason exits, but they're confident this season is different.

“You can win games in the regular season, but in the long run, you're not going to win games with just two players or one player or whatever,” Backstrom said. “You need everyone. … We've played more like a team, and that's what I think matters and that's what I think is going to matter in the postseason, too.”

Ask players when this team started to feel special, or at least especially close, and they struggle to pinpoint one moment. There were preseason golf outings and dinners that were a mix of veterans and younger players such as Tom Wilson and Michael Latta. There were team-building activities that Trotz orchestrated, like the time the team went rowing before the season started.

Those things had an effect, but the Capitals didn't credit them for the turnaround. Most players just shrugged and said the personalities of this particular group naturally fit one another, that, as Wilson put it, “on any given night, any guy could go out with any guy for dinner on this team — and I don't think you could really say that about any teams past or teams around the league.”

Wilson mentioned the contrast of 21-year-old forward Andre Burakovksy, “who's the young, not to say goofy one, but keeps it light,” with 35-year-old defenseman Brooks Orpik, “who's kind of the older, real serious guy that's been there and an amazing leader.” Williams is somewhere between, “a leader and a little bit of a goof,” Wilson said.

Trotz thought Oshie endeared himself to teammates when he fought Boston's Adam McQuaid in an exhibition game. “The bench went, ‘That's a star player fighting a guy who's out of his weight class in a preseason game,'?” Trotz said. “That's pretty impressive. That said a lot.”

That team bond was tested when Ovechkin was absent from a morning skate before the second game of the season because he had overslept, accidentally setting his alarm clock incorrectly. Because he broke a team rule by being late, Trotz made him a healthy scratch against the San Jose Sharks, a game Washington lost, 5-0. As practice ended the next day, the team walked off the ice together in a show of unity.

Asked about that incident months later, Trotz said he appreciated the way Ovechkin handled it, not responding with an outburst but understanding that he had to be held accountable just like any other player. The result of the game reinforced that the Capitals still needed Ovechkin, but the fact that he was disciplined also spoke to the team.

“He's a superstar, but he is just another player on our team,” forward Jay Beagle said. “He doesn't get special treatment, and that's why we saw that with Trotzy. That sent a message to all of us, you know?”

Trotz recognizes how draining carrying the Capitals must have been for Backstrom and Ovechkin, that a more balanced lineup has freed them to have more substance in their personal games. But he also wonders if pressure can be a good thing, a question that will be answered in these playoffs, with the most talented roster Washington has had.