Ovechkin Guarantees Game 7 Win

The Washington – New York Rangers series has been a great one.  With every game settled by one goal, we now head back to New York for Game 7.

And to make for even more emotion, Alex Ovechkin guaranteed that his team would win the game.

“We are going to come back and win the series.”

Can they follow through?  Yes, this time I think he is right and Capitals will win the series tonight.

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Look, I hesitate to put too much of the focus on Ovechkin, because these failures have been total team efforts; and I hesitate to place too much blame on him because that fire doesn’t need another log. It’s the reason I’ve sorta been pulling for the Caps in this postseason: The playoff choking trope is something they wear too well, and something that continually prevents some from truly measuring Ovechkin’s greatness. I’m frankly exhausted by it, although comparing that exhaustion to that of Capitals fans is like comparing someone that just ran a half-marathon with someone who just ran around the circumference of the Earth.

I want to look back on Ovechkin’s career and discuss it in terms of Jagr, Hull and Richard. The longer this postseason disappointment goes on, the better the chances we’re instead looking at the next Mike Gartner.

I want to find the sweet spot, if it exists, between refusing to blame Ovechkin for his team’s playoff failures and acknowledging that one assist and six shots on goal in his last four Game 7s is atrocious for a premiere offensive player, a team catalyst and a multiple MVP winner.

So here’s what I want out of Ovechkin: I want him to follow through on the actual guarantee he made in this series.

It was back in Game 1, after Ovechkin scored a fantastic goal against Henrik Lundqvist. Mics picked up the Capitals star chirping the Rangers goalie, saying “ALL SERIES, BABY, ALL SERIES!”

It hasn’t been all series. He hasn’t registered a point since Game 2.

“We knew we have to step up. We knew we have to play better,” said Ovechkin after Game 6.

“We have our chances.”

So do the Capitals. Again and again and again and again and again and you get the point.

I won’t blame Ovechkin if they lose. It’s a team game. But just once in one of these finales, just once while he stares into the abyss of another championship tournament disappointment, I want to be able to look back at a Game 7 and be confident that Alex Ovechkin played a dominant game, doing everything to elevate his team even if it ultimately falls short.

Photo credit to Dan4th Nicklaus.