Caps, Ducks confront Game 7 demons
WHAT TO WATCH
Game 7 may be the most exciting phrase in sports to a lot of people. Probably not for the Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks.
The Capitals have lost six of nine Game 7s in the Alex Ovechkin era, and the Ducks have lost five in a row with stars Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, including a heartbreaker in each of the last four years. Wednesday night is the chance for each team to confront its Game 7 demons as Washington hosts defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh and Anaheim hosts Edmonton with spots in the conference finals at stake.
“I don’t know whether from coaching or playing whether you get into a mental block or not,” said Bruce Boudreau, who coached in Game 7 four times with the Capitals and four times with the Ducks. “I think Washington for sure is due to win. I’ve said it for four years in Anaheim we’re due to win, but in the end your best players have got to be your best players.”
For the Caps, that means more production from Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and strong goaltending from Braden Holtby when the puck drops against the Penguins (7:30 p.m., NBCSN). In those nine Game 7s, Ovechkin has three goals and three assists.
Getzlaf and Perry have combined for only seven points in six chances in Game 7 going into
DEFENSIVE CROSBY
Concussed on May 1, Sidney Crosby returned five days later and didn’t look at his best Monday after crashing headfirst into the boards. But Crosby and coach Mike Sullivan said he was checked by a doctor and not put into the NHL’s concussion protocol. Crosby continues to play but isn’t pleased that he keeps getting questioned. “You talk to the doctor,” Crosby said Tuesday. “We can sit here and I can explain for 10 minutes what concussion protocol is and all that stuff but I don’t really want to do it.”
HOLY FLEURY
Marc-Andre Fleury has allowed nine goals on 58 shots the past two games after nine on 142 shots the first four games against the Capitals. Some of that is the play in front of him, especially with Pittsburgh defenseman Trevor Daley missing Game 6. If the Capitals have found a hole on the goaltender’s glove side they’re not saying.
MR. GAME 7
Justin Williams has a chance to add to his
another one at home against Edmonton (10 p.m, NBCSN).
“I don’t know if there’s any hump to get over,” said Trotz, who is 1-1 with the Capitals in two Game 7 opportunities in 2015. “I just think with this group that I’ve been with, our Game 7s have been pretty solid. You’re not going to win every one. But I thought our game was really, really quite good in both those Game 7s.”
Concussion spotter couldn’t pull Crosby
A week after he was knocked out of playoff game with a concussion, Pittsburgh star Sidney legend as “Mr. Game 7” in his first chance with Washington. A three-time Cup winner, Williams is 7-0 with seven goals and seven assists in seven chances in Game 7.
UNFAMILIAR OILERS
This is the first NHL Game 7 for Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Cam Talbot and the majority of the Oilers, who as a franchise last played in one in 2006. That was a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Cup Final that as, you guessed it, Williams sealed it with an empty-netter.
SEVEN DEGREES OF GAME 7
The Hurricanes’ coach in that Game 7 against Edmonton was none other than Peter Laviolette, who’s waiting for the Ducks or Oilers in the Western Conference final with the Nashville Predators. Laviolette’s Predators are looking to become the third eighth seed in the salary-cap era that began in 2005-06 to reach the Cup Final. The first two? The ‘06 Oilers he beat and the 2012 Los Angeles Kings, who got 15 points during their run from Williams.
Crosby slid headfirst into the boards during another tense game against the Capitals.
He did not come out of Game 6 on Monday night.
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that the league’s centralized concussion spotter decided the play did not meet concussion protocol criteria that require mandatory removal from play. The protocol states a player must be removed if a spotter sees symptoms in a player who takes a blow to his head or upper torso from another player’s shoulder, his head hitting the ice or from a punch to the head.