Ovie hit and miss with predictions

Ovechkin said: “We’re going to come back and win the series. We’re going to play our game, and we’re going to come back and we’re going to play Montreal or Tampa.” Ovechkin scored in Game 7, but the Capitals still lost.

2011, versus Lightning in second round: “It’s not over,” Ovechkin said after the Capitals fell behind three games to none. “We’re not going to give up. We’re going to win.” Washington was swept.

2009, versus Penguins in second round: “Next game is going to be different,” Ovechkin said with his team trailing three games to two. “It’s not over yet. If somebody thinks it’s over, it’s not over. We’re going to come back here again. Game 7.” Ovechkin had three assists in a Game 6 overtime win, but Washington lost in Game 7.

Ovechkin’s confidence in the playoffs isn’t all that different from any other time.

On the first day of training camp before this season, when expectations for the Caps were far lower than in recent years, Ovechkin said, “We’re not going to be suck.”

True enough, Washington won the Metropolitan Division for a third straight season, overachieving by some standards.

Ovechkin has two powerplay goals and two assists through the first four games of this first-round series, but the Blue Jackets’ top line has outplayed Washington’s, which features centre Evgeny Kuznetsov, right wing Tom Wilson and Ovechkin.

Columbus’s top trio, centred by 19-year-old rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois, has five even-strength goals, while Washington has just one. The Capitals will need more contributions from their topsix forward corps to prove Ovechkin right this time.

“That just shows confidence that we’re confident we can do it,” coach Barry Trotz said. “But you can say it as much as you want, now you’ve got to back it up. And we’ve got to back it up.”