Another year, another Game 7. Brace yourselves, Capitals fans.

Another year, another Game 7. Brace yourselves, Capitals fans.

Well, here we are again. Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals are preparing for another gut-wrenching Game 7 against the hated Penguins. Capitals fans are hoping for — and, after Monday’s dominating win in Pittsburgh, maybe even expecting — the best. No one could blame them for preparing for the worst.
Washington is 4-10 all-time in Game 7s, including a 3-7 mark at home. The only teams with at least as many Game 7 losses are the Maple Leafs (10), Red Wings (11) and Bruins (12), who make up one half of the NHL’s Original Six. Wednesday also marks the Capitals’ 10th Game 7 during the Ovechkin Era, a 10-year run that has featured twice as many instances of heartbreak and disappointment as euphoria and happy handshake lines.

This group doesn’t really care what’s happened in the past,” Capitals Coach Barry Trotz said before Washington closed out the Maple Leafs in six games in the first round, repeating a mantra he’s echoed over the last three seasons. “They really care about what’s happening now. And that’s what’s really important for any group. I think it’s more the media than anybody else.”
Guilty as charged. While players may not care what happened in 1987, or 1995, or 2010, and Pat LaFontaine and Jaroslav Halak have absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the Capitals’ latest Game 7, Wednesday’s result will be colored by Washington’s tortured playoff history. A loss at home would rank among the worst letdowns in the franchise’s 43-year existence. A win to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1998 would be especially sweet, because it would complete a comeback from a three-games-to-one deficit against a playoff nemesis that has pulled the same cruel trick on the Capitals twice before. Washington owes the Penguins, who have blown a pair of 3-1 series leads in the last six years.

Pittsburgh is 8-7 all-time in Game 7s, but undefeated (5-0) on the road, including wins at Capital Centre and Verizon Center in 1992 and 2009, respectively. Not that the Capitals care about the past, but they did win their last Game 7 at home, in 2015 against the Islanders, and they’ve yet to lose a Game 7 with “Mr. Game 7,” Justin Williams, on the roster. That’s a fact.

Mr. Game 7 Justin Williams will play his first Game 7 with #Caps in 2nd season in Washington. He has 7 goals, 7 assists, is 7-0 in Game 7s.