Conditioning will be factor for Capitals

3 OT games taking toll on players

COLUMBUS, OHIO — “The legs are definitely tired,” Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. A few feet away, defenseman Dmitry Orlov was stretching on the visitors’ dressing-room floor. The treatment room around the corner was already packed.

Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella called the playoffs “a game of attrition,” and this is a series of it. Have some electrolytes.

“That’s why you take care of your body. That’s why you’re an athlete,” Wilson continued. “That’s what the skate test is for in September, I guess. The guys will be recovering from here on in, getting some ice tubs or whatever.”

The infamous skate test of training camp ensures players are conditioned after the summer, but it doesn’t quite prepare them for this. The first three games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal between the Capitals and Blue Jackets have gone to overtime, with Tuesday night’s 3-2 Washington win needing five periods and 89 minutes to decide it. Both teams have nowplayed an extra 47:24 over the course of the series. The winning team might be the one left standing at the end.

“I think what overtime makes you do is concentrate when you’re tired,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “I mean, you have to stay in that moment. You can’t cut that corner, you can’t do that flyby when you’re really tired, you can’t cheat, because those are the times that the puck ends up in the back of the net. It just happens, and I think when you’re tired or you’re battling through something, you have to have a really strong focus and mental toughness.”

The Capitals are veterans of playoff overtime by now. They’ve played past regulation in 34 percent of their postseason games since 2008, the highest percentage of any team in that span, and eight of Washington’s past nine first-round games have needed overtime. As the team returned to the locker room before the second overtime Tuesday night, Wilson said the mood had gotten lighter, a few jokes even exchanged. Game 4 Tonight, 7:30 TV: NBCSWA Radio: 106.7 FM