NHL Playoffs: Battle-Tested Caps, Rangers to Meet In Game 7

While going the distance has not been a rare thing in the 2012 race to the Stanley Cup, the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals have really gone above and beyond, providing one of the more intriguing and momentum-shifting contests seen in recent years.

Sacrifice has been a key word for both teams. Shot-blocking involves giving up the body to stop the puck from reaching the goaltender, and it’s not a pleasant way to make a living. Anyone who’s had a frozen puck hit their body knows how much it hurts, but that’s part of the price which must be paid for success in the NHL playoffs. Even Alex Ovechkin has been doing it, blocking three shots in Game 6 and two in Game 5.

Captain Ovie has made sacrifices in other areas, especially ice time. When he’s played fewer than 20 minutes, the Capitals have won many more of those games than when he’s been on the ice more than 20 minutes. It’s just one element of the amazing job head coach Dale Hunter has done with a team that no one gave any credit to at the start of the post-season, and who are now on the verge of maybe meeting the New Jersey Devils for the right to go to the Cup finals.

Watching Braden Holtby maturing in the net is reminscent of another unheralded young goalie who was thrust into the heat on battle and grew up in an instant: Montreal Canadiens legend Ken Dryden. Both acted as cool as cucumbers, and both pulled off incredible saves at important moments and make them look easy.

Meanwhile, the Rangers have their own reasons to be hopeful. Goaltending has been critical in this matchup, and Henrik Lundqvist has a slightly better save percentage than his opponent (.936 to .935). Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik both made huge contributions in Game 6. They still have a difference-making defense and they can score when they need to. However, they did require seven games to oust an upstart Ottawa Senators squad and they’re going into another deciding match on Saturday night against yet another out-of-left-field contender.

So who has the edge in this series? This is the prediction I made in a playoff pool: Washington in 7. They knocked out the Cup champions in Round 1 (in overtime, on the road), and they have enough jam to do the same thing to the top regular-season team in the Eastern Conference.

If Game 7 goes to overtime, though, it’s likely to be the Rangers. Two of the six tilts in this series so far have gone to extra time, and New York has won both: Game 3 was a 2-1 score in 3 OTs, while Game 5 was a 3-2 result after just 1:35 of overtime. Either way, it ought to be fantastic.