Sorry John Tortorella, there will be no Game 7 back in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Capitals have battled back from a 0-2 series deficit to win four straight and dispose of the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games to advance to the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Capitals showed resolve throughout the series, especially after falling behind 2-0 in the series count. They battled back with a double overtime in Game 3 in Columbus. Then they routed the Blue Jackets for a Game 4 win before outlasting them in another overtime win back in D.C. to take the series lead at 3-2.
That resolve breathed calm and confidence over a team that have been haunted by ghost of postseason failures. Everyone was ready to write them off after a pair of overtime heartbreaking losses in Game 1 and 2. But, their captain and leader Alex Ovechkin guaranteed they’d be victorious in Game’s 3 and 4 to bring the series back to D.C. tied at 2-2. They did, and they took that Game 5 in D.C., setting up their series-clinching win in Game 6.
3. Alex Ovechkin Led the Charge
When the Blue Jackets gave a punch the Capitals’ resolve was just too much to deter the goal and focus of winning. Ovechkin made sure to put his team on his back and carry them to the second round. Ovechkin lit the lamp twice with each goal coming in the second period. He first backhanded a Brooks Orpik rebound past Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to break a 1-1 tie. He then answered on a Capitals’ power play with his custom goal from his office off a John Carlson feed to extend the Capitals lead to 3-1.
The Capitals fed off their leader’s determination not to lose and put the series away from good. Just to think about that essential guarantee when he said it was “going to be funny” when Washington tied the series. It’s funny now all the criticism that was directed at the Capitals after the first two games. All have been forgotten, as they head to the second round.
2. Capitals Showed Great Resolve with Two Momentum-Killing Goals
The Capitals of past would have found a way to choke away a 3-1 lead. They had done so before in this series. And when the Blue Jackets cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the third, Capitals fans cringed at the possibilities of a comeback. But those worries were put to bed quickly when Devante Smith-Pelly broke away for an unassisted goal a little more than one minute later to push Washington’s lead back to two.
Chandler Stephenson then took advantage of a Jay Beagle forced takeaway to sprint ahead and beat Bobrovsky for the shorthanded goal eight minutes into the period. The goal broke any spirit of a rally and gave Washington a 5-2 lead that sealed the fate of the Blue Jackets and pushed the Capitals forward into the next round.
1. Capitals Rewarded with Another Showdown against the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Capitals’ reward for winning their first-round series? Another showdown with their nemesis the Pittsburgh Penguins. Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby once again. It was the Penguins who eliminated the Capitals each of the past two seasons in the second round. Now the two rivals will do it a third time which is becoming an annual event due to the NHL’s new playoff format.
The Capitals wouldn’t ask for any other way. Getting a third crack at finally getting over the hump and past the second round for the first time under the Alex Ovechkin era.
