Team going the distance for third-straight series
The sound rang out across Mellon Arena.
Recommended Stories
When Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi blasted a shot off the crossbar of the goal during overtime of Game 6 on Monday night, the Capitals came within a half-inch of their season ending.
Defenseman Mike Green never saw the puck. He simply heard the sound it made as it whizzed past his head and off the metal pipe. Forward Brooks Laich let out an sharp breath on the bench. Coach Bruce Boudreau wondered why there was no penalty called on Penguins forward Chris Kunitz for goalie interference. Someone on the bench finally yelled “That’s the break we need.” They were proven right a few minutes later when Caps forward David Steckel scored the game-winning goal.
“It’s a game of inches,” Steckel said with a smile.
With the win, Washington forced Game 7 tonight at Verizon Center in this Eastern Conference semifinal series. But if it wasn’t for that half-inch there would be no game at all. No sellout crowd. No national television. No perfect resolution to what has been a classic series. In the chase for a Stanley Cup, a half-inch can make all the difference.
“Sometimes you need to get lucky like that,” said Laich, who took the shot that Steckel tipped past Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. “But we’ll take it and we’ll run with it and hopefully we’ll get a little more luck on Wednesday.”
Washington is now 6-1 in elimination games over the last two years. The Caps are also playing their third Game 7 in as many series dating back to last year’s first-round loss to Philadelphia. Which begs the question: What takes them so long to get going in a playoff series?
“I don’t know if it’s immaturity that we can’t prepare or why we can’t prepare ourselves for Game 2, 3, 4,” said Caps defenseman Brian Pothier. “For some reason in an elimination game we really understand what has to take place.”
It is only the eighth Game 7 in the history of the franchise, which has won just twice all time in those contests.
“We want to win. That’s the only thing. We still realize if we lose it we’re going to go home,” Laich said. “So we have a desperation about us. [But] I don’t think mentally you can get too overworked about Game 7. People sometimes put too much pressure on themselves and that limits their play.”
