The two exchanged hat tricks in Game 2 and Washington did something very un-Capital-like by winning an elimination game on the road to force a Game 7. At stake is a trip to the Eastern Conference final.
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This Washington team can win and after the last four periods of hockey, I’d be insane to think Game 7 will be different. I think it is a little bit different. I don’t really want to do it.
– Evgeni Malkin has never scored in his five previous Game 7s, but he has recorded six assists. He went on to miss the rest of that game and sat out Game 4.
“Yep. Yeah. Pretty standard”, Crosby told NHL Network, affirming doctors had cleared him to keep playing. An 8-year-old at the time, he was already hooked on the game and the guys in the red, white and blue sweaters. It’s going to be the toughest game of the series. We need to play the same. The Penguins also used both goalies – Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray – as the Senators, who led the game 4-2 in the second, got goals from Dion Phaneuf, Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman. He took at least nine seconds from that point to get up and start getting back into the play. Each superstar had three shots in the game. This time Crosby was even slower to get back up and to the bench.
From the first drop of the puck, it was the Caps’ night. Or it could be one of the most painful – a much longer list over the past 25 years. “You play seven periods of hockey, wear and tear just gets you”.
This fictional conversation illustrates the pain or pleasure that awaits Capitals fans at the Verizon Center Wednesday night. Ottawa leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. “That’s a game we thought we probably should have had”. Defenseman Trevor Daley didn’t play Game 6.
“When you go in like that, it just kind of knocked the wind out of me”, said Crosby, who played on and finished his shift.
“That’s the one particular moment we all remember”, said New Jersey Devils assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald, another one of then-coach Dan Bylsma’s young assistants that night. Their last Game 7 victory at home came in the first round in 2009 with Boudreau behind the bench when Sergei Fedorov scored the OT victor to knock off the Rangers.
Trotz has been saying since early in the series that the Capitals liked how they were playing, and now they finally getting rewarded for their play. “Those are two separate things”.
“I mean, there shouldn’t be any wondering about it”, Crosby said. These post-concussion tests may not be ideal – National Football League players have admitted to cheating to beat the tests, so that’s possible in hockey, too – but having so many loopholes shows it’s little more than window dressing in the end. It’s a result of study of our actual experiences over a number of years.
The Capitals have three remaining; Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Jay Beagle.
One problem. The Capitals didn’t actually make the playoffs that spring, finishing last in the Patrick Division instead. This is where I think everyone is just giving concussions and their consequences lip service. Rookie Jake Guentzel picked up his league-leading ninth playoff goal in Game 6.
“I’m not sure if momentum exists between games”, says Niskanen.
“The last three games weren’t our best, but the best part about it is we have a Game 7 and we have another opportunity to close out the series”. The eyes of the hockey world will be on Washington on Wednesday.
Rangers forward Jesper Fast said: “We have no time to waste right now”.
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“Sid, you have had multiple concussions and you are going to have more serious issues later on in life”. And we still have our back against the wall. It appears Crosby was slow to get up so why wasn’t he immediately removed? “Game 7” in his first chance with Washington. It’s its own entity. National Hockey League players want everyone to be more responsible for their stick and reduce hitting players who are in an unsafe position.
