| 12 May 2009
Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Game Seven
Verizon Center
And here we are again. Another Game Seven for this Capitals team, their third since Bruce Boudreau took over the team.
The resiliency the Capitals have shown this postseason is astounding, but you can only wonder how much they have left in the tank.
It's doubtful they need any extra motivation going into this game, but they might want to take notice of their younger counterparts, the Hershey Bears. Michal Neuvirth posted a 3-0 shutout Tuesday night as the Bears knockoff the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and advanced in the Calder Cup playoffs.
So now it's time for the big clubs to finish their business.
Game Sevens are the pinnacle of postseason play in any best-of-x-based sport, a do-or-die situation that is the result of two evenly matched teams giving 100 percent to reach this moment. This series has truly lived up to its hype and has secured itself among this decade's best, without even completing the series.
The stars have played like stars, and the secondary and role players are emerging as the X factors. Varlamov has silenced critics that claimed he would fold under the pressure of the Penguins offense, and Marc-Andre Fleury has been just as stellar.
This is no longer the Ovechkin vs. Crosby series -- now it's truly Pittsburgh vs Washington, and the final chapter is about to unfold.
With home ice, the Capitals also have one factor that many critics overlooked. Many said the Pens would win based on their playoff experience alone, but Sidney Crosby's Penguins have never been in a Game Seven. The Caps have seen both sides of a Game Seven.
The Caps' Game Seven experience may not be a clear advantage, or one at all, but it does give them the means for motivation. If the Caps truly need to remind themselves of what it will take to get past Pittsburgh, they should just think back to what it was like to lose to Philadelphia and what they did right against New York.
Both sides know what needs to be done. Now it's just up to the Caps to go out and play the game of their lives because, after all, this is easily the biggest game of many of the young Caps' careers.
LET'S GO CAPS!
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