WASHINGTON — Just say the words “Game 7” to a Caps fan and, well, on second thought, don’t.
Few franchises have dealt with a comparable level of playoff heartbreak, especially in a go-on-or-go-home scenario as the Capitals have in their existence. They have won the Eastern Conference just once in their 40-year history, but have been left on the doorstep more times than they would care to count.
When they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night, the Caps will have a third straight crack at returning to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they haven’t been since 1998. That was the lone time they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to be swept by the Detroit Red Wings. It will be just the latest chance of many over the years to finally break through and shed an ever more permanent and more truthful label of a team that can’t get over that postseason hump.
The franchise hasn’t lacked for general success. Despite missing the postseason in their first eight years of existence, the Caps have qualified for the playoffs 25 times in their history, including seven of the past eight years. This is their fourth trip to the conference semifinals during that stretch, but they have not been past that point since that ’98 season.
Only 27 of 270 teams trailing an NHL Playoff series 3-1 have come back to win that series. Four of those times, it’s happened to the Caps.
In 40 NHL seasons, Washington has gone to a Game 7 on 13 occasions, winning just four times. The last such victory came just 16 days ago, as the Caps escaped the New York Islanders with a 2-1 win in the final, make-or-break matchup of that series.
And therein lies the good news, if Caps fans can allow themselves to view it that way. Three teams have dispatched Washington multiple times when coming back from two games down in a playoff series. The Islanders were one of them, and that demon has now been exorcised. The Rangers are another, and Wednesday provides another opportunity to hurl the proverbial monkey off backs of the red sweaters.
While going 4-for-13 in win-or-go-home situations isn’t “good” by any stretch, it’s the way Washington has lost series throughout the franchise’s history that provides cause for concern that history is repeating itself once again.
If the Caps fall Wednesday night, it will mark the 10th time they have lost a series in which they held a two-game lead.
But no scenario has looked quite like the one they face Wednesday. In 1996 and 2003, Washington led two games to none, only to lose four straight and bow out in six games. In 1985, 1987, 1992, 2009, 2010 and 2013, the deciding Game 7 was at home. Only in 1995 did they finish with consecutive road losses, when they were blown out in Games 6 and 7.
None of those nightmares resemble the current scenario. Washington has won and lost close games the whole series, with every game decided by a single goal. They are not a favorite either, taking on a Rangers team that clinched the President’s Cup with 113 regular season points. This would arguably be the toughest, most unexpected Game 7 win, one which could have the power to wipe away so much history.
Alex Ovechkin’s bold proclamation that the Caps were “going to come back and win the series” following the Game 6 loss has garnered much of the attention heading into Wednesday night. After all, Ovechkin hasn’t scored since Game 2 of this series, and hasn’t scored a Game 7 goal since 2009. He and the top line will need to find a way to be productive to help the Caps buck history.
On the other end, goalie Braden Holtby has allowed one goal or fewer in six of the 13 games so far, including three times already this series. But he let four past him Sunday, his worst game since the first of the postseason.
There is plenty of reason for concern. The Rangers are probably more skilled, and will enjoy home-ice advantage at Madison Square Garden. But nobody knows as well as the Caps just how little that matters when a season comes down to one game. Perhaps they can use that knowledge to flip the script on their own history. Perhaps it’s the best possible redemption.
