Four keys for Islanders vs. Capitals in Game 7
The Washington Capitals host the New York Islanders in Game 7 of their Metro Division semifinal series on Monday night.
The Islanders successfully avoided losing their last game at Nassau Coliseum; they need to win to squeeze out a few more games in the old barn.
The Capitals meanwhile, are looking to overcome a decade of Game 7 failures, many of which had come at home.
Here are four keys to Game 7:
1. Forget The Past
Alex Ovechkin’s first Game 7 at Verizon Center was my first Game 7 at Verizon Center: Joffrey Lupul, scoring an overtime winner on the power play in 2008. That game had something I’d experience in the other Game 7 losses for the Capitals: a creeping sense of dread throughout the game, and then a collective panic when adversity struck.
Game 7s in DC tend to create a sold-out building and a home bench full of clenched sphincters from the opening whistle on. Coach Barry Trotz has asked the Capitals to learn from losing five of seven Game 7s during the Ovechkin Era; they’re better off just trying to forget they’ve ever happened, or else repeat the sins of the past.
Speaking of Ovechkin …
2. Backstrom and Ovechkin vs. Tavares
Backstrom has been the Capitals’ best player this series, maybe this season, with six points in six games, winning 56 percent of his faceoffs in 21:40 per game. This star-making, MVP-level run has to continue in the series’ most important game.
Ovechkin has 2 goals and 2 assists, but it’s his Game 7 output that has Capitals fans worried: He’s been held without a goal and was limited to five shots in the last three Game 7s he’s played in (two against the Rangers, one against the Bruins). His playoff frustrations are legendary, to the point where he hinted at an officiating conspiracy after Game 7 in 2013.
The captain has to lead in Game 7.
Captain John Tavares, meanwhile, has six points in six games in the series (2 goals, 4 assists) and this is just as much his time to shine. He had four overtime winners in the regular season to lead the Islanders, and had 45 points in 41 road games. He’s as clutch as they come; now, for the first time in his career, he has a chance to advance his team to the semifinals.
3. The Halak Factor
According to ESPN, Jaroslav Halak is 4-0 when facing elimination against the Capitals and has stopped 169 of 173 shots in those games for a .977 save percentage.
Of course, that incudes the three games in 2010 when he backstopped the Canadiens to a stunning 1-vs.-8 upset of the Capitals, rallying from 3-1 down. Which is to say that he’s won a Game 7 in Washington before.
He’s 2-0 in his career in Game 7s with a .963 save percentage.
4. Maybe Someone Would Like To Establish a First-Period Lead?
In the previous six games, there’s been exactly one contest in which the Islanders or Capitals left the first period with a lead: Game 2 in Washington, when the Capitals rallied from the Isles’ 1-0 opening stanza for a 4-3 win.
Four times, they’ve been tied 1-1; the outlier was Game 3 at Nassau, when the first period was 0-0.
We only mention this because Washington was habitual about getting up early: 26-2-2 when leading after the first period in the regular season, and 4-14-5 when trailing after one.
Score first. Score often, for the Caps.
Prediction: Islanders, 3-1, continuing the Halak and Game 7 misery trends.
