Pitted against the second seeded Boston Bruins in a brutal first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Washington Capitals clawed their way to a vital reckoning last night at the TD Garden.
They. Can. Win.
In. The. Seventh. Game.
The 'choke' that has become almost a given has evaporated. Yes, it's early days, but for this hockey club, those early days are the most defining.
Braden Holtby, a veritable greenhorn by NHL standards, delivered game in and game out, exhibiting that single most important trait a goal tender can possess: equanimity. It takes a certain type of spirit to watch one puck hit your net, and be able to steel yourself against the next onslaught, and the next without letting any more through.
All seventeen feet and three hundred pounds of Zdeno Chara, post-Soviet-human-tank-experiment-gone-slightly-awry couldn't slow down the Caps.
They have a defensive game. (Really, this time.) They have a goalie with an excellent glove save. And they've shaken the monkey of ill-begotten defeat from their back.
They're back.
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