When the Washington Capitals skated off the ice at the end of Game 2 Sunday night at the Capital One Arena, all was lost. Hope and confidence were gone. The Capitals were destined to repeat their failed history in the playoffs. Another choke job ensued. The Capitals had dropped two heartbreakers in overtime to fall into a 0-2 series hole to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
However, the Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin very confidently made a boastful statement with conviction.
“You right now in hard position,” Ovechkin said, per Brian McNally of NHL.com. “But it’s going to be fun when we bounce back and going to tie the series and come back here and play Game 5 at home.”
At the time regardless of his nature of his delivery of the statement, Ovechkin’s claim kind of fell on deaf ears. The history of postseason failures told another story. Two home losses in the fashion that they came with the next two games being in Columbus spelled doom.
But in Game 3, Lars Eller tipped the ricocheted rebound off a Brett Connolly slap shot in the net nine minutes into double overtime to give the Capitals a much-needed first win of the series. In Game 4, the Capitals dominated from the opening face-off to the final whistle, rolling to a 4-1 win to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
It’s easy to say Ovechkin was just saying something to say something, saying what needed to be said just because. However, his proclamation was with too much conviction. He believed it. His body language spoke it even if you had doubts of his intention. It lit a fire into his teammates whether they will or won’t admit it. There was a sense of urgency and confidence poured into their locker room.
The change at goalie, replacing Philipp Grubauer with the more proven Braden Holtby also had a lot to do with it. Holtby stopped 56 of 59 shots in the two games in Columbus, giving his offense a chance unlike they had in the first two games in Washington.
Ovechkin did his part as well, scoring one goal and three assists in Columbus. The Capitals defense shut the door more, allowing just three goals in two games after helping yield nine goals in the first two games of the series. The defense killed all seven of the Blue Jackets’ power plays. There was a total team effort to prove their Captain right with his prediction.
Now, the series shifts back to the nation’s capital with the series tied at 2-2. Washington has all the momentum, they have overpowered the Blue Jackets, withstanding their first knockdown to counter with one of their own. The focus now is to continue beyond just tying the series at 2-2. The Capitals must complete the rally with a new focus of winning two more to advance.
If they do so, there will be more focus going back to the confident words Ovechkin spoke following last Sunday’s loss. But credit is due, he spoke the words that needed to be said at the time, and it proved true.
