It all comes down to this. For the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals, Wednesday night’s game at Capital One Arena in DC is win or go home. It’s a winner-take-all game seven that will decide the first-round series.
The Canes forced the decisive game with a 5-2 win in game six in PNC Arena on Monday, tying the series at three. The home team has won every game in this series, so the Canes will have to find a way on the road to advance.
“I’d love to say the pressure is on them, but we want to win,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “There’s pressure on both sides. It’s fun. This is why you play. This is why we train, this is why the guys do what they do all year, and in the summer, to have chances, to have these opportunities. These are the games you remember. You don’t remember all the games in the regular season. This is a chance to make a moment. That’s why it’s so special.”
In order to “make a moment,” the Canes will have to do what no team has done in this series: Steal a win on the road. The last game of the series in DC was one to forget for the Hurricanes, a 6-0 loss that put them on the brink of elimination.
Carolina played well for stretches of games one and two, however, and an improvement on the power play (Carolina is 3-for-24 up a man in the series) could be the difference.
“Anything can happen in game seven, so it’s what you dream of playing as a kid,” said forward Jordan Staal. “It’s an exciting time and I know everyone in this group is excited, so we’re going to find a way.”
Staal is one of the few players on the Hurricanes who have experience playing in a game seven. But they do have arguably the best game seven performer in league history in their captain, Justin Williams.
Williams has played in eight game sevens in his career and is 7-1 in those (including two with the Hurricanes). He’s scored a league-record 14 points in those games, and is tied for the NHL record in goals with seven, earning him the nickname “Mr. Game Seven”.
“You learn a lot about people when it’s win or go home, when it’s us or them,” Williams said. “It was us, now it’s them too, so anything can happen next game, and we’re happy to be playing it.”
Brind’Amour, who suited up alongside Williams for those two game sevens with the Hurricanes, will hope to see Williams lead the way in yet another decisive game.
“He’s been our leader and I can’t say enough good things about what he’s done for the group,” Brind’Amour said. “He lives for these moments. Everyone lives for these moments; he’s just risen to the occasion. Everyone can have a couple games, but he’s done it for a long time. Obviously we’re hoping he’s got one more.”
In order to move on to a second-round date with the New York Islanders, the Canes will need their top players in Williams, Staal and forwards Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen to step up the way they did in game six.
They could also see another source step up, as game seven is where unlikely heroes are made. Rookie forward Warren Foegele, who already has four goals in this series, could be an option there.
If there’s one thing the Hurricanes do have on their side in this one, it’s history. Carolina is 4-0 all time in game sevens, including two road wins in decisive games during the team’s last playoff run in 2009.
While that number is irrelevant to most of the current roster, as Williams is the only player left who’s played in a game seven for the Canes.
Brind’Amour, however, who captained the Canes to a Stanley Cup championship in 2006, played in all four of them. He remembers the excitement and the instant classic moments game sevens can create from his playing days, and he is excited for so many of these players to get that experience for the first time.
“I’ve played, I think, 1600-plus games,” Brind’Amour said. “But you remember four or five of them. You look back, and you’re fortunate to be in that opportunity or to have the opportunity … You’ve got this game here and it’s another chance to have that [game where], no matter how old you get, you can look back on and go, ‘Man, we did something special there.’ I remember those. That’s the stuff that gives you goosebumps thinking about it. And when you watch the emotion of the guys after scoring last night, that’s why I’m doing it. Because I feel great for those guys. I’ve been there; I know how exciting that is.”
