Game 7 Caps vs. Rangers 4-28-2009 Preview

Series B: Washington Capitals (53-35; 108 points; 1st Southeast Division, 2nd Eastern Conference, 4th Overall) vs. New York Rangers (46-42; 95 points; 4th Atlantic Division; 7th Eastern Conference, 12th Overall):
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game #7, Caps Game #7, Home Game #4, NHL Game #127

Verizon Center, Washington, DC. 7:10 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WJFK 106.7-FM. New York TV: MSG. Radio: WEPN 1050-AM. U.S. National TV: Versus. Canadian National TV: TSN, RDS (French).

Tonight, the season once again comes down to just one game. In Game 7, the Caps are just 1-5 all time, 1-4 at home. However, the Rangers have never won a Game 7 on the road, the last time they played a Game 7 on the road was May 5th, 1974 when they lost 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers. This is New York's first Game 7 since the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post: more drama, another chance. Times: tough losses, sideshows, six games, Game 7 Preview. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com: AP Wire, faltering favorites, pressure shift, bulletin board response, patient, searching, discipline. ESPN.com: roster moves, not talking, sideshows.

Open Source Intelligence:

MSG. Newsday: no pressure, blame game, accountability, another suspension. New York Daily News: confidence, TV nightmare. New York Post: silent treatment, suspended. New York Times. Rangers.com.

Open Source Stupidity:

New York Post.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Well folks, here's the situation we did not want. The series down to just one game where Henrik Lundqvist could steal the game and the series from the Caps. Yeah, yeah, yeah we know he's given up nine goals in the last four periods he's played and has been pulled from the last two games. Who here wants to bet that the same thing happens to him again tonight? We didn't think so. While Lundqvist has never played in a Game 7, that is all the more reason to believe that he will come prepared tonight. And if there is one thing about this series since Simeon "the Saviour" Varlamov entered that has surprised us, it is that we haven't seen an overtime game yet. Once again, the first goal tonight is going to be huge. However, the Caps have blown the 1-0 lead twice in this series in just over one minute in each occurrence. Any confidence the Rangers gain will make things harder on the Caps as the Caps have yet to post a one goal win in the playoffs but already have 3 one goal losses. The more the Caps score, the easier things should be for them however they shouldn't expect the Rangers to fold the way they did in Games 5 and 6 considering that they are also facing elimination tonight. This looks to be a replay of Game 4 where the Caps were attempting to avoid going down 3-1. Expect a low scoring tight checking game that could very well be decided by a bounce, referee, and/or a goal post or two. Finally, the reason why only 20 teams out of 233 have ever come all the way back from a 3-1 deficit to win is because a team good enough to jump out to that kind of lead will rarely lose 3 playoff games in a row. Sorry folks, we happen to think this is just another heartbreak waiting to happen.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 1
Rangers 3
Winner by Avery

(1-5 in the playoffs)