Follow @james_tanner123 The Capitals forced game seven in what was an incredibly intense, fun to watch game.
The Playoffs have overall been pretty good, but other than game seven of the Toronto / Boston series, last night's game was the best I've seen.
And I've seen at least two!
With Backstrom's hand wrapped (HE COULDN"T EVEN HIGH FIVE PROPERLY!) and the Caps on a three game losing streak, things looked bleak. But fans looked to my prognostication of a Tampa win as 'statistically impossible' and found hope.
And also Alex Ovechkin is on a mission. (But Backstrom can't high five!)
The game was edge-of-your-seat nervousness until the Caps opened the scoring, and then, after that, it was pretty much up to Braden Holtby - a man setting new neck-beard records by the minute - who came through for the shutout.
Through six games, the Capitals have controlled 52.14% of the possession, out shot Tampa by 40, out chanced them by 20 and scored 60% of the goals (5v5).
Marc Andre is getting the press, but Andrei Vasilevski is doing everything he can to make the Stanley Cup Final a battle of the Andres.
But no one wants to see that (excepting Tampa fans and the International Cadre of Andres) . It's Caps all the way because Ovechkin has won over the hearts and minds of the American people in a way unseen since whenever Lebron's last game was.
The Capitals are the people's choice and even though you know game seven is going to be a tough win (because Tamps is due for a good game 5v5) it's pretty exciting to have a game seven with the winner Cup bound.
You can't write this stuff! (OK You could.)
Will Backstrom get his high fives back?
Will the Andres take over completely? How does Burakovsy divide his loyalties?
Tune in tomorrow to find out.
stats from naturalstattrick.com