Capitals oddly comfortable on brink of elimination in Game 6

PITTSBURGH – Positivity isn’t necessarily associated with the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Neither are comfort, character and steely resolve in the face of adversity.

But Evgeny Kuznetsov has witnessed all of it in his locker room.

“You can see. Everyone stays positive. Even before last game,” said Kuznetsov, hours before Game 6 of the Capitals’ series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. “We went down 3-1. Seventy-five percent of people say we’re going to lose that game. But we’ve got lots of balls in this locker room, you know?”

Um, sure …

Game 5 was the Capitals’ latest evidence that Things Are Different This Time. They showed it in surviving a tough challenge from the Philadelphia Flyers, winning two key games on the road in emotional spots.

“I think the team responds after a loss all year. There’s a lot of doubters even when we lost a couple of games against Philly, but we responded with some of our best efforts,” said coach Barry Trotz.

Now they’ve shown it in this series, kicking the series back to Pittsburgh as the Penguins squandered a chance to eliminate the Capitals in five games.

“There’s a comfort level that we can respond, rather than ‘how are we going to get this done?’ I think our mindset has changed a little bit. We just have to get determined that we’re going to come in here tonight and win a hockey game,” said Trotz.

“Before, we were a little nervous about being down.”

The determination was there for Alex Ovechkin in Game 5, as it’s been there all series for the Capitals captain. He scored a power-play goal that gave the team jump, and then his blast on a later power play set up T.J. Oshie’s goal.

“This team plays well when we have some pressure. Last game, we showed we have character. We have support of each other,” he said.

Kuznetsov said Ovechkin isn’t just leading by example, but saying the right things in the room.

“He always say something that’s positive and good. If you’re not going to listen to guys like Ovi and [Brooks Orpik], you’re going to be done pretty quick,” he said.

The Capitals will get Orpik back from his three-game suspension for Game 6, while the Penguins will get defenseman Olli Maatta, the player he injured, back as well. (Coach Mike Sullivan said he's a game-time decision.)

Trotz said that’s what you want to see: Two teams, at the height of their powers, battling it out for the series win.

“I think now it’s an accepted fact that you don’t know how the series is going to end, but you want to leave your best effort out there,” he said.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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