NEW YORK -- New York Rangers right wing Martin St. Louis vividly remembers the buildup to his first career Game 7.

"It was 2004, [Eastern] Conference Final, I remember being nervous," said St. Louis, who was with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the time. "We had lost Game 6 [against the Philadelphia Flyers] and now we were coming back home and trying to win a game. There's definitely nerves."

St. Louis, now 39 years old, has played 850 games between the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs, including five more Game 7s, since his first experience in a winner-take-all game, but it feels like nothing has changed.

He's as nervous now heading into Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports) as he was on May 22, 2004 heading into Game 7 against the Flyers.

"It's anticipation," said St. Louis, who will be playing in his 100th playoff game. "You want to play. You want to get on the ice and play the game, so you're thinking about the game a little bit. Once you get your first shift in that goes away. You're in the battle now."

And once the Rangers and Capitals get in the battle there will be certain keys to victory for each team outside of quality goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers) and Braden Holtby (Capitals).

Here are three keys for each team:

CAPITALS

1. Keep hitting on the forecheck -- The Capitals are known in hockey terminology as a "heavy team" because of how much they hit and how well they lean on teams, especially on the forecheck. When they have played to their strengths in this series it has worked in their favor, resulting in turnovers by the Rangers leading to sustained time in the offensive zone and scoring chances.

To win Game 7 the Capitals have to stay aggressive on the forecheck and hit as much and as often as they can. They can't deviate because as soon as they do, the Rangers' speed will take over and they'll be able to break out of the zone quickly, which leads to odd-man rushes against.

"When we get away from it we don't have success and when we do it it's evident," forward Brooks Laich said. "Even in the building you feel it, you feel the rush. It's infectious. When one line does it everybody sees it, so the next guys want to do it and they do it. It can really create a wave in a hockey game that really makes our team push."

2. Locate Mr. Backstrom -- Washington's chances of winning go up exponentially if center Nicklas Backstrom gets involved in the offense. He has to show up in a big way Wednesday, but that would be different from what we have seen from Backstrom since his assist on Joel Ward's winning goal in Game 1.

The Rangers have done a good job of limiting Backstrom, but he has not been nearly as aggressive in trying to create chances for himself and left wing Alex Ovechkin (no goals in past four games) as he should be and can be.

Backstrom has no points and five shots on goal in the past five games.

Backstrom never went more than three games without a point in the regular season. He had points in 49 of 82 games and led the League with 60 assists.

"I need [Backstrom] to play probably a little bit better," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "At the same time they're doing a good job on his line, so it's both. [Backstrom] is one of the elite players and the big games he's always been there for us, so I expect him to have a real big game for us."

3. Put the power play back together -- Washington had the No. 1 power play in the NHL in the regular season and went 4-for-13 in four games against the Rangers, with Ovechkin scoring all four goals. It's fair to wonder where that power play has gone.

The Capitals are 0-for-11 with only 15 shots on goal on the power play since Ovechkin blasted a shot past Lundqvist off the rush in Game 1. They were 0-for-4 in Game 6, when Ovechkin mustered four shot attempts in 6:55 of power-play ice time. Two of his shots were stopped by Lundqvist; two were blocked.

Trotz wouldn't divulge anything tactical about the power play and potential adjustments, but he did say the Capitals will have to get out of their comfort zone to be good on it.

"We do have a plan and we have to execute it," Trotz said. "You have to make adjustments. You don't have to make sweeping adjustments, but you have to make some. When you play a team five, six, seven times and you've been shown on film all their tendencies it really nullifies the power play, and that's why in the playoffs its tends to be harder to score."

RANGERS

1. Better breakouts -- The Rangers always talk about getting to their game and playing to their strengths, which means getting out of the defensive zone quickly and playing fast up the ice. Outside of the play of Lundqvist this might be the biggest key to success for New York.

The Rangers need to be better at it in Game 7 than they were in Game 6, when they were outshot 45-28 and allowed the Capitals to have 96 shot attempts, including 34 after defenseman Dan Boyle scored to give New York a 4-1 lead at 4:24 of the third period.

"They're going to get to their strength, and that's their forechecking game, so we've got to be aware, take a hit to make a play, and really have that close support so when there is an opportunity for a loose puck we grab it and go," captain Ryan McDonagh said. "Trust our structure, trust our strengths, and it's a matter of us getting to our strengths."

2. Win the middle of the ice -- Second to the Rangers ability to play fast is their ability to win position in the middle of the ice. They were able to do that enough in Game 6 to force a Game 7.

Chris Kreider's first goal 40 seconds into the first period and Rick Nash's goal early in the third period were a result of the Rangers winning the inside position in the middle of the ice.

"You look at the series and it seems to be at times the team that is able to bury their opportunities early on is the team that seems to get into the rhythm, and getting to the middle is always important," center Derek Stepan said. "We've talked about it all series long, we know we've got to do a better job of getting on the inside. Those two goals are on the inside and that's where the goals are scored. We've got to continue to find ways to get there."

3. Stay out of the box -- The Rangers have done yeoman's work against Ovechkin and the Capitals' power play, but the more opportunities they give Washington the more chance they have of getting burned.

For instance, as successful as they were on the penalty kill in Game 6, giving Washington four power plays, including one with 2:44 remaining in a one-goal game, was living far too close to the edge for the Rangers' liking.

"We're playing with fire big time because we don't want to allow their power play too many chances," Stepan said. "They're going to get chances. They were No. 1 in the League for most of the year and they have five guys on the ice that can make plays and obviously the one guy that can really shoot it."

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