The Washington Capitals have been up 3-1 in playoff series nine times and are a nausea inspiring 6-3 in those series, three of those wins coming in their Stanley Cup Finals run of 1998. Take away 1998, and they’re 0-2 at series with home ice up 3-1. With the Caps it always seemed to come down to game 5. If they lose that with home ice, they go on the road and the other team has the momentum, then they come home and all the pressure is on the Caps. I was pretty confident Washington was coming home up 3-1, but game 5 is a bit of a bugaboo for me. 
If Montreal can force a game 7, I’d make it a pick ‘em and all bets are off. I think the Caps finish the series tonight but I’m nervous about it.
One reason for confidence is the fact that the Capitals are seemingly in the heads of the Habs and their fans. After Ovechkin called Halak out for looking nervous in game 2, Carey Price committed two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in game 4. And much has been said about the spraying Ovechkin gave a kid waving a Canadian flag, and not autographing a Canadian flag while trying to buy tickets from a scalper. I got a chuckle out of seeing the kid get sprayed and the idea of a superstar buying tickets from a scalper for a game in which he’s playing, but needless to say there are some pissed off Canadians fans.
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Written by Ryan Cleaver
Ryan Cleaver was born in Björk’s house in Iceland and grew up on Easter Island, where his parents were giant stone heads. He has the ability to fire beams of tacos out of his hands and he can turn his legs into tigers.
On Sundays, Ryan enjoys reading Family Circus and traveling through time. His favorite color is greenish-transparent and his favorite movie is the one you just watched.
