My Life in Game 7s: Documenting Memories from Six Eventful Capitals Playoff Games

As most people know, when it comes to pro sports, I really only have a true allegiance to one team. As happy as I was that the Ravens held off the 49ers to win the Super Bowl, the happiness faded quickly as I realized my dear Washington Capitals still have not come close to contending for a Stanley Cup. The team has qualified for the playoffs each year since 2008, and has experienced a ridiculous six game 7s in that time. I gain more and more gray hair with each one, and these six games are some of my most vivid memories. I can neither confirm nor deny that I sometimes jolt awake at night, shouting things like “GOD DAMN SEMIN PENALTY” or “WHERE ARE YOU OVECHKIN!?”.

Here is a list of the aforementioned Game 7s I have toiled over and my recollections of the viewing experiences I had with them. Warning – I’m going to get sad and you’re going to notice.

Game 7 #1: (6) Flyers at (3) Capitals – 2008 Eastern Conference First Round

The Build-Up: This was the Cinderella year. The Capitals, fresh off firing Head Coach Glen Hanlon, hired bombastic, freewheeling Bruce Boudreau from their minor league affiliate Hershey Bears to replace him. Boudreau installed a wide-open, highly offensive system that the team excelled with. They went on a tear down the stretch, won the Southeast Division on the final day of the regular season, and Alex Ovechkin was awarded the MVP. The Flyers were heavily favored to win the series, but the Caps stole game 1 at home with a late Ovechkin goal. The Flyers, however, won the next three games of the series with relative ease. The Caps fought their way back into it, however, and set up their first Game 7 since 1995 (who knew they’d have so many more to make up for the hiatus?).

The Game: I watched the game with my dad and my brother in our basement. Each of us was relatively confident, knowing we had the momentum going. Our mentality stayed that way until about halfway through the second period. In a wild sequence, goalie Cristobal Huet got a Caps player slammed into him by one of the Flyers, and Sami Kapanen’s empty net goal put the Flyers ahead 2-1. There should have been a crease violation on the play, but the refs had let most things go so far. I kept that in mind, believing fully that we would get a make-up call.

Ovechkin, who had seemingly disappeared since his game-winner in the series opener, tied the game with about four minutes to go in the second period. There wasn’t any scoring in the third, but going into overtime, the Verizon Center crowd seemed raucous and I felt pretty good about our chances. I turned to my dad and said, “Ovechkin scores.” He laughed and said “No, that’s not how playoff overtimes work. It’ll be a Flyer. Somebody you don’t see coming” (Gee, I wonder where I got my sports pessimism from?). As fate would have it, the Caps never got that makeup call, and Tom Poti got called for a toss-up tripping play that was completely out of whack with how the refs had been calling the game. Joffrey Lupul, who hadn’t scored all series, put in a rebound for the Flyers. I sulked, knowing my belief had surely cost the Caps their shot at winning.

Game 7 #2: (7) Rangers at (2) Capitals – 2009 Eastern Conference First Round

The Build-Up: Though we had suffered a blow against the Flyers, the Caps’ success continued throughout the next year. Ovechkin won the MVP for the second straight season and led the league in scoring with 56 goals. The match-up was favorable, against the Rangers, but the Caps got caught looking ahead to the next round and lost the first two games of the series. The Caps pulled goalie Jose Theodore for relatively untested rookie Semyon Varlamov, and after trailing 3-1, Washington mimicked the year before and tied the series, setting up a second straight game 7 at home.

The Game: I was more nervous for this game than the previous year’s, and sat stewing in my Mike Green jersey for most of the day. I didn’t have anybody to watch the game with, and really wish I had. It was a thrilling goaltender duel. Varlamov and New York’s Lundqvist pulled off miraculous save after miraculous save. The game stood at 1-1, until about five minutes to go, when veteran Sergei Fedorov rifled a wrist shot above the glove to give the Caps the lead. I began to get nervous, but the Caps controlled the game until the conclusion and marched into the second round.

Game 7 #3: (4) Penguins at (2) Capitals – 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals

The Build-Up: Oh my God, what a series this was. The first six games were some of the best hockey I had ever seen. Game 1 featured Varlamov absolutely robbing Sidney Crosby in a 3-2 win in the tied second period with one of the best playoff saves of all time. Game 2 featured Ovechkin and Crosby both scoring hat tricks in a Caps 4-3 win, putting them ahead 2-0 in the series. But the Penguins came back in a stellar game 3, with Malkin absolutely dominating and the Pens winning in overtime. The Penguins tied the series in Game 4, and took the lead in Game 5 on an own goal off a Malkin shot in overtime. On the road, the Caps re-tied the series on a deflection in yet another overtime, setting up a third straight Game 7 at home.

The Game: And then all of the excitement died. After six games of the most intense hockey between featuring the two best players in the world (At the time. No, Ovechkin is no longer in the conversation), Game 7 was an anticlimactic massacre of epic proportions. It started well enough with a huge Ovechkin hit on Brooks Orpik, but a bit later Ovechkin was robbed on a breakaway with a fantastic glove save by Fleury and Crosby scored for the Penguins. On the ensuing faceoff, the Penguins won the draw, skated into the zone, and Craig Adams immediately scored, putting them up 2-0. The Caps lost all of their luster and wilted, losing 6-2. The Adams goal was the sign that the game was over, and as the Penguins poured in goals, I just became numb. I wasn’t sad, and the only thing I felt was disappointment that the game fell flat on its face. I deserved more, I felt. Next year’s team would surely deliver vengeance.

Game 7 #4: (8) Canadiens at (1) Capitals – 2010 Eastern Conference First Round

The Build-Up: This series haunts me. I’ve been going back and watching highlights of all of the other games, but I haven’t touched this one. The Caps were the President’s Trophy winners and the resounding best team in the league. They were unstoppable. After losing Game 1 in overtime, Montreal scored on the first two shots of Game 2, and Theodore got pulled again for Varlamov. The Caps stormed back into the game, winning 6-5 in an overtime thriller, and won games 3 and 4 by a combined 11-3. And then Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak was touched by God and transformed into a brick wall. The Caps, trying to finish off the series, managed only two goals in games 5 and 6 on NINETY-ONE shots.

The Game: I’ve told several people of my “Sporting Events that Have Caused Me to Cry” list before. I won’t get into all of it, but this game is on there. I was sure the Caps would figure out Halak. I was sure we would get to the second round and continue to steamroll the competition. I was sure that the third time would be the charm. I was sure. Until I wasn’t sure. The Canadiens scored early. It was 1-0 the whole game. The seconds ticked by. The Caps kept shooting. Halak kept saving. The Canadiens scored again. Mike Green what are you doing? Minutes seem like seconds. It’s late in the third. Tears are coming. Brooks Laich scores. 2-1. Canadiens hold on. Canadiens win. Season over.

I sat in my chair for a couple of hours. The postgame show played twice. Finally I got up, moved myself to bed, and fell asleep with the realization that it is never ‘just’ sports. It’s more than that. I got it now – I knew heartbreak.

Game 7 #5: (7) Capitals at (2) Bruins – 2012 Eastern Conference First Round

The Build-Up: After a year-long hiatus from Game 7s (horrible postseason memories notwithstanding), the Capitals returned to the playoffs as underdogs. Boudreau had been replaced by Dale Hunter as coach, and the Caps took on a defensive mentality throughout the season. The goalie was Braden Holtby, a 22-year old kid from Saskatchewan with mammoth-sized confidence. He was sublime the entire series, and the Caps clawed their way to Game 7 against the defending champs with each game being decided by a single goal.

The Game: I felt strangely at peace going into this one because we weren’t supposed to win. I didn’t think we would, but I wasn’t very nervous nonetheless. We had a new coach and a new philosophy and this time, we were the team with the best goalie in the playoffs. We seemed built to win a low-scoring Game 7. I also watched this game at Buffalo Wild Wings, and I thought a change in scenery would surely help. The Caps scored first on a Hendricks deflection and Tyler Seguin tied it in the second for the Bruins. The Caps killed a penalty in the dying minutes of regulation, and of course, the game went into overtime where Boston’s Patrice Bergeron missed an absolutely golden opportunity to win the game. After the huge penalty kill and the baffling miss by Bergeron, the hockey gods seemed to be shining on the Caps. I told myself not to show any outward hope, because the Flyers and Canadiens series had taught me to remain utterly pessimistic at all costs. Every word I said was “Bruins goal is coming.” But Joel Ward scored. And I didn’t know how to react, because it had been so long since a good memory. So I ate some more wings.

Game 7 #6: (7) Capitals at (1) Rangers –  2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals

The Build-Up: This series. It was pretty much the aforementioned hockey gods smirking and saying, “let’s painfully remind Garrett of every other heart-wrenching series he’s ever experienced, game by game, minute by minute.” The young goalie fresh off a Game 7 win in the first round, the penalties, the overtimes – it was all just a memory refresher for the past four years. I attended my very first playoff game, and as fate would have it, it was a grueling three-overtime thriller in Game 3 that ended at 1 in the morning with a Rangers win. But the real pain started in Game 5. Series tied 2-2. Capitals holding on to a 2-1 lead with time dwindling down. Joel Ward gets called for a penalty (Flyers). Brad Richards ties the game with six seconds left. The Rangers score 30 seconds into OT, but the Caps tie the series in Game 6 (Penguins).

The Game: I sat down with my friend at Buffalo Wild Wings at our lucky table. He asked me what I thought. I predicted a one goal Rangers win in overtime, seeing as that’s how the playoffs had been going so far. Whatever the outcome though, the team had exceeded expectations.

Brad Richards scored on the first shot of the game. 1-0 Rangers.

No score in the second. Oh no. Not this again.

Michael Del Zotto puts New York up 2-0 in the third. With time ticking away, Roman Hamrlik puts one through for the Caps. The entire restaurant goes crazy. I don’t move. It’s Montreal all over again. It’s the same game. Ovechkin has gone missing. He has one shot on goal all game. The Caps pull the goalie and nothing happens. Again. 2-1. Rangers.

I don’t know what this year has in store, but if I had to bet on it, I would say Caps-Rangers goes the distance. If only because that’s the way it seemingly always is. I know that with every minute of game time, my stress levels increase twofold and it’s probably not healthy. But it doesn’t matter. It never matters. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the be-all end-all of postseason sports. One of these days, hopefully, the Capitals will prevail four series in a row and Alex Ovechkin will hoist the Cup and I’ll be there for the parade. Maybe they never will. But I’ll always come back, year after year, game after game.

Let’s go Caps.