Oof

Well, the Caps are back in a situation we've never seen before.

Stop me if you've heard this: the Caps lost a playoff game in triple (or quadruple) overtime. It was a painful game to watch, especially the last two overtimes.

The Caps definitely wasted a masterful performance by Braden Holtby. He was an absolute rock. The two goals he allowed were scored from a combined distance of less than ten feet. One of them was deflected twice on the way. There's just no way to fault his performance. (The only hint of a negative would be him coming out of the net too far to play the puck. Once. In a game that lasted nearly two hours of playing time.)

The sad part is that the game looked very good for the Caps for long stretches of time. In fact, up until about halfway through the second overtime, I was pretty sure the Caps were going to win. After that, it was pretty clear that the Rangers, despite playing much (most?) of the game with only four defensemen, had more energy. The Caps just looked like they were trying to prolong the game.

Of course, even then the Caps generated some good chances, but not many. I was amazed the shot counter stayed so close.

But eventually Gaborik found the twine, putting the Rangers up in the series.

Let's hope that the Caps can move forward. If they don't win on Saturday, they're cooked. The only good thing, for the Caps, is that the Rangers defense, especially their top pairing, logged a lot more ice time than the Caps did. It ain't much to hang your hat on, but it's all I've got.