Nothing beats a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and we are thankful to get one in the Eastern Conference Finals as Washington visits Tampa Bay on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network. It’s the fourth consecutive year that the East Finals have gone to a Game 7.
Latest Game 7 ODDS:
Tampa Bay -145 vs Capitals +130
The winner takes on the West champion Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals next Monday. If the Caps win, that series would start in Las Vegas. If the Lightning win, they would have home-ice advantage.
Washington has made just one Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history, and it was swept in 1998 by the Detroit Red Wings. The Caps are in the conference finals for the first time since. Of course, they won the first two games of this series in Tampa, and if the Caps lose on Wednesday it would mark the 11th time in franchise history they lost a postseason series after building a two-game lead.
The Capitals are just 4-11 all-time in playoff Game 7s, which is the worst winning percentage in NHL history (minimum five games). The team is 3-7 in Game 7s in the Alexander Ovechkin/Nicklas Backstrom era. Those are tied for the most Game 7 losses by a player in league history. Washington’s last Game 7 was the 2017 East Semifinals, a 2-0 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Incidentally, Tampa Bay’s last Game 7 was also against the Penguins: the 2016 East Finals, a 2-1 loss in Pittsburgh. The Bolts had blown a chance to clinch the series at home in Game 6. However, Tampa is 5-2 all-time in Game 7s, and that winning percentage of .714 the best in the NHL. Tampa is looking for its third trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. It won the Cup in 2004 over Calgary – in a Game 7.
Physical Play Takes Toll
The Capitals ended a three-game losing streak with Monday’s 3-0 home win in which they were clearly the more aggressive and physical (and desperate) team. Washington outshot Tampa Bay 34-24 and outhit the Lightning a whopping 39-19. Defenseman Brooks Orpik and forward Tom Wilson were nailing guys all over the place and each finished with a game-high six hits.
T.J. Oshie scored what would prove to be the game-winner at 15:12 of the second on the power play. He added an empty-netter at 19:10 of the third, his seventh goal of these playoffs. Devante Smith-Pelly had the other Washington goal at 10:02 of the third, his fourth of the postseason.
Braden Holtby was deservedly the No. 1 star with his first shutout of the entire season. He became just the seventh netminder in league history to record his first shutout of the year, regular season or playoffs, in a game in which his team faced elimination. It hadn’t happened since 1996 by Jussi Markkanen. The Capitals improved to 10-2 in the Ovechkin era in elimination games BEFORE Game 7.
Latest Game 7 ODDS:
Tampa Bay -145 vs Capitals +130