Caps Seek to Square Series

May 13 vs. Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena
Game 6, First Round Stanley Cup Playoff Series (Panthers lead, 3-2)
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: NBCSW, TBS
Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 The Fan
Washington Capitals (44-26-12)
Florida Panthers (58-18-6)

During the 82-game regular season, the Caps were adept at avoiding even short losing streaks. As they come home from Florida to face the Panthers in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Friday night at Capital One Arena, the Caps are lugging a two-game losing streak. And if that streak stretches to three on Friday, Washington's season is over.
The Caps let a late lead slip away in a 3-2 overtime setback in the District in Game 4, and they lost hold of a three-goal lead in the second period of Game 5 in Florida, a night that ended in a 5-3 setback after Florida struck for five unanswered goals to push the Capitals to the verge of elimination.
Washington was in a good position to take a 3-1 lead in the series, but it didn't happen. Two nights later, the Caps gave themselves a good chance to take a 3-2 lead in the series. That didn't happen either. All that's left now is for the Caps to win on Friday to force a deciding seventh game in Florida on Sunday, and to overcome the Cats in that one as well.
"You've got to win a hockey game," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "There's things that we've done well in this series, and then there's things that we haven't done well. [Wednesday] night was no different. We've got to take those things that we've done well and the positives and bring that for a more consistent amount of time."
Florida averaged 4.11 goals per game during the regular season, the highest figure for any team in the League since 1995-96. The Caps have limited Florida to 3.2 goals per game through the first five games of this series, and Washington has been perfect in 16 penalty-killing assignments against a Florida power play that finished fifth in the circuit with a 24.4 percent success rate during the regular season.
In both Games 2 and 4 in Florida, the Panthers exploited the Capitals for five goals at 5-on-5 in a span of less than 30 minutes of playing time. In the other three games of the series, the Caps have kept the Cats to a combined total of just four goals at 5-on-5.
"Those goals [Wednesday] night on [goaltender Ilya Samsonov] were tough," says Laviolette. "We left him in tough situations, and in those particular instances where the puck ended up in the net, I think we could have done better. I don't necessarily sit there and say it was goaltending [Wednesday] night that let us down. We shot ourselves in the foot, and that's what we'll look to clean up."
Coming from game 2 into Game 3, the Caps were in similar straits. They responded with their best and most complete game of the series, a 6-1 victory that was closer than the score would indicate; the Caps led by only a goal with just over a minute remaining in the second period of that game.
They didn't play well enough to win Game 4, but they still had a chance to do so and never trailed until Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Cats to win it in overtime. After the Caps jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 5, Verhaeghe put on a one-man show, picking up points - two goals and three primary assists - on all five Florida goals in Wednesday's game.
"The first half of this game - for me - was better than the last game, even though we were up 2-1," says Laviolette of the last two games. "We just didn't control enough of the play. I thought to get to that point when we were up by three, we were good and tight defensively, we controlled their rush a little bit, and I thought we did a better job of possessing the puck and staying in the offensive zone and hunting for offense. That's the game that we need to play."
Similar to Game 2, it seemed that once the Florida train got started, the Caps were powerless to stop it.
"Giving up a three-goal lead, I don't know how many times we've done that this year," says Caps winger T.J. Oshie. "But in the playoffs, it should be easier to keep playing the same way and getting pucks deep and all that. But yeah, the swings in momentum, they're tough in a game. When it's on your side, you've got to try to keep it and not give them momentum, make them earn it."
"I felt like we gave this game away," said a dejected Nicklas Backstrom after the game.
The Caps traveled home on Thursday, and when they reconvene on Friday morning with a fresh outlook and a clean mindset, they'll be seeking to play a "clean" game against the Panthers in a must-win Game 6, with the confidence that they did that less than a week ago here in Game 3.
"There should be a lot of confidence from the things that we have done well in this series - the games that we have won, the times that we played well - but you really have to work for a clean game against a team like Florida, who is dynamic in what they do," says Laviolette. "Those will be the points of emphasis moving forward, and we'll get on the ice [Friday] and get ready for a big game."
For the Caps, it's one game at a time, one period at a time and one shift at a time.
"We've got to shake this one off," says Oshie. "We're still showing ourselves how we have to play, and creating chances, creating offense, and keeping their offense in check. And we keep getting away from it.
"We've got to reset here. You obviously don't want to be down 3-2, especially when we felt like we had a chance to go up 3-1 in [Game 4]. You've just got to regroup. We've got a veteran group in there, a bunch of guys with great character. We're going to be a little pissed off here tonight, wake up [Thursday], head home and get back to work."