When the Washington Capitals take the ice on Thursday night at Capital One Arena for Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes, their season will be on the line. That comes with the territory of trailing in a best of seven series three games to one.
Game 4 felt like Game 3 in a way. Once again the Caps started out strong but weren't rewarded in the form of a goal. They failed to quiet the crowd and it cost them in the end.
The end result was a 5-2 loss in Game 4 following a 4-0 loss in Game 3. The Hurricanes now are in command of the series.
"We're giving ourselves some opportunities, we're just not executing, making plays, whatever you want to call it. We're making some mistakes and they're capitalizing. "Spencer Carbery
The Caps remained confident after their losses in Games 1 and 3. That comes with the chemistry and no panic in the guys. But panic or not there's still no margin for error. And theres one mindset.
"Win the next game. We're going home. I really like our odds. Win the next one, come back here and force a Game 7. That's where we're at," said Connor McMichael.
Dylan Strome added, "It's do or die now. I think this team has a lot of fight left in us. We knew when we lost Game 1 in overtime that we were gonna have to get one in Carolina. That's still the task at hand. We've got to find a way."
The Caps controlled the game for the first 10 minutes but couldn't solve netminder Frederik Andersen. Then the Hurricanes responded with pressure of their own. Then Shayne Gostisbehere beat Logan Thompson glove side.
Late in the first period the Caps were able to draw a four minute power play when Jordan Martinook was called for high sticking. But the Caps would manage just one shot on goal throughout the whole attack.
Seth Jarvis would make them pay right after the kill 65 seconds into the middle frame. 5:18 into the third Jakob Chychrun would stop the bleeding and finally end Andersen's shutout streak.
Taylor Hall would answer on a breakaway. Alex Ovechkin notched his first goal of the series but Sean Walker would answer with a goal.
History is not on the Capitals side. Only 15 times in 124 attempts which is just 12 percent have teams with home ice advantage gone down in a 3-1 series and came back to win. Not good.
But what the Caps have shown all year is resiliency. Why not show it again? The Caps led the league in comeback victories this season and they always respond in the face of adversity.
Game 5 is set for Thursday night. 7 p.m. on TNT, truTV and MAX.
