Capitals aim to put away Blue Jackets in Game 6

WASHINGTON -- With three consecutive wins in the Eastern Conference First Round, the Washington Capitals have gone from being in an 0-2 hole to one victory away from eliminating the Columbus Blue Jackets and moving on to the next round.
Now that they have the Blue Jackets down for the first time in the series, they want to finish them off in Game 6 at Nationwide Arena on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; CNBC, TVAS2, FS-O, NBCSWA) and not risk having to play a Game 7 in Washington on Wednesday.

"The playoffs are an absolute grind as it is," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said Sunday. "If you have a chance to eliminate a team, you have to have that killer instinct and you have that ability to close out a team. And it's the toughest game to win because the other team is desperate. Their backs are against the wall. They're there. They're going to give their absolute max effort tomorrow, and we've to make sure that we've got a max effort. And if we do that, then we have a chance to win in Columbus."
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This has already been a grueling series. Four of the first five games have gone to overtime, including the Capitals' 4-3 win in Game 5 in Washington on Saturday. The Capitals battled through a similar first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, when five of the six games went to overtime.
After winning Game 5 of that series at home in sudden death, the Capitals traveled to Toronto for Game 6, absorbed an early push by the Maple Leafs, battled back to tie the game in the third period and won 2-1 in overtime to close out the series. The Capitals know they'll have to play at least as well against the Blue Jackets on Monday if they're going to wrap up this series.
"Just play our game," Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said Saturday. "It's simple, but it's hard. It's not going to be easy. They're not going to give us an easy one. We have to fight through it."

The alternative is playing another Game 7, and all the stress that comes with that. The Capitals know it all too well.
They've played 10 Game 7s in the Ovechkin era, beginning with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. They are 3-7 in Game 7s, with the wins coming in the first round against the New York Rangers in 2009, the Boston Bruins in 2012 and the New York Islanders in 2015.
There have been some painful losses, but none worse than in the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. The Capitals fell behind 3-1 in that series before battling back to force Game 7 in Washington, but lost 2-0. It was a disheartening ending that continues to haunt many of their players.
That team, which won the Presidents' Trophy for the second season in a row, looked like it was the Capitals' best chance at winning the Stanley Cup. Instead, they lost to the Penguins for the second season in a row and watched Pittsburgh go on to repeat as champion.

"We had high expectations the last couple of years and we continue to have those high expectations," Trotz said. "Last year, we felt we had a position where we could've gotten a little further, and we didn't. We obviously ran into the Stanley Cup champions."
After a summer of roster turnover, the Capitals aren't as deep this season, but they're one win away from getting back to the second round and possibly a three-match with the Penguins. To get there, they have to take care of business against the Blue Jackets first.
That has proven to be a difficult challenge so far. The Capitals became the first team to win at home in the series in Game 5.
Now, it's the Blue Jackets' turn to see if they can hold serve on home ice. The Blue Jackets played perhaps their best game of the series on Saturday, but couldn't get the winning goal past goaltender Braden Holtby despite outshooting the Capitals 16-1 in the third period.

Undeterred, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella confidently predicted his team will win Game 6, stating, "We'll be back here for Game 7."
As Trotz noted, it's the Capitals' job to make sure that doesn't happen.
"We need to come out a little harder and play way better for 60 minutes," said center Nicklas Backstrom, who scored the winning goal 11:53 into overtime Saturday. "I don't know. … Hopefully we can play a little tighter and keep them on the outside. They had a lot of chances. [Holtby] played great. Sixty minutes, complete game on Monday, but you know it's going to be rocking there in Columbus."