Okay, okay

I'm back, I just needed a minute.

Here's the thing. Through the first 4 games of the series, commentators, Caps' fans, and even some Capitals themselves complained about their perception that they outplayed us for most of the series, and yet were down 3-1. They saw games 5 and 6 as what was inevitably due us. This is only partly true: they did outskate us for portions, but we also kept them contained for portions. And yes, Lundqvist stole a couple. But whether or not it's valid is not why I bring this up. What's important is that if they were upset about outplaying us despite losing games 1, 2, and 4, I'm upset about outplaying them despite losing game 7.

We played what was unquestionably our best game of these playoffs and probably one of our top five efforts under Tortorella, despite it rounding out our season with his first 3-game losing streak (assuming Game 6 counts) since taking over on February 23. Through 1 period, we had outshot them 8-2, and it looked like they never had the puck. Unfortunately, it was also 1-1, because of a shot from SomeGuy Capital which found like 43 places to bounce off of a Ryan Callahan who was actually making a really smart defensive play before finding its way past Hank and in. And everyone thought "wow, tie game, there's no way we can keep this up."

In the second period, though, we did keep it up. The numbers will tell you that in the second period, they outshot us 9 to 6, winning 7 of 13 faceoffs. But the play told a different story: despite not getting another shot behind Varlamov, we kept the puck most of the period. Our PK was strong, sure, but our even strength was the key. I can't complain about anything I saw. Even the officiating seemed to, in the wake of the Blair Betts madness, do us the favor of calling the game evenly and staying out of everyone's way (indeed, 3 minors were called all game - 2 on us, 1 on them - and none led to goals).

All in all, most of the things I said in my "if the Rangers win" story ended up being the things that came true. Lundqvist was great (24 saves), Avery was a presence, Green was useless (2 giveaways and 1 minor balancing out a +1 that only came from accidentally assisting the weird carom-off-Callahan goal, in 24:24 of ice time), we kept Ovechkin contained (9 shots toward the net for 0 points), and our PK was perfect (if only 2 for 2).

What we lacked was...well, as Tortorella keeps saying we lack, a finisher. We lack a Bill Mazeroski (we'll get to who that is in a minute). Look, if anyone, 2 weeks ago, had asked me how I felt about being tied going into the third period of Game 7 against these guys, feeling like we had outplayed them through 40 minutes, of course I would have taken it. But, of course, the Capitals are a good hockey team, and they came out to play the final 20 as well. We put up a fight, and held their onslaught at bay for another 15 minutes, before, with 4:59 left before a Game 7 overtime, Sergei Federov came down on Wade Redden and did his job. Much as I'd like to, I can't even blame Redden for the play. He was in the right position - no, really, he was in the right position. Federov just made a really good move.

I'm forced, once again, to think of the 1960 World Series, originally brought up by Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. Through 6 games, the Pittsburgh Pirates had won 3 by an aggregate 14-8, while the New York Yankees had won their 3 by an aggregate 38-3. Game 7 was a hard-fought battle, with the Yankees erasing a 4-0 Pirate lead to go up 7-4 in the eighth, before the Pirates scored 5 in the bottom of the 8th to give them a 2-run lead, which the Yankees then matched in the top of the 9th to send it to the bottom of the 9th tied 9-9. The first batter up for the Pirates in the bottom of the 9th? Bill Mazeroski. On a 1-0 count, Mazeroski pounded one over the left wall of Forbes Field to win the World Series, 10-9. This became one of the most famous World Series endings ever, and it remains the only Game 7 game-winning home run in World Series history.

What's my point? The Pirates got a happy ending (winning a World Series in which they were outscored 55-27), and we didn't, right? Well, that is my point. We lack a Bill Mazeroski. We don't have the forward that will make the big play. No disrespect to (most of) our guys. We played a fantastic game against a superior opponent. But we don't have the Jaromir Jagr or the Alex Ovechkin who, independently of his numbers, will take over a game when his team needs him most. Chris Drury's job is to be clutch, sure, but he's never had the offensive power to completely take over at a given time. Also, he had a broken hand.

And, all the credit in the world goes to the new Brandon Dubinsky line, winged by Sean Avery and Nik Antropov. It's been a long time since I've seen a line really dominate a game like this. These three were everywhere, and every time they were on the ice, Capitals were getting knocked over and pucks were getting stolen. I know I really need to get off my "Brandon Dubinsky should be the Captain" soap box, because I really do want to keep Chris Drury around, but this is what a leader's line does when they come out for Game 7. The Capitals didn't know what hit them, and this was due mostly to this line's leadership.

Oh, and yes, you dumb fucks, this is the difference between Sean Avery and people like Donald Brashear. Stop throwing around the word "dirty" and watch the fucking games.

But, at the end of the day, we didn't have the finisher. We didn't have the Mazeroski. And our best players, as our coaches were so fond of saying they had to be, were not our best players. As I've reminded you a number of times now, Torts has said things like "We're not gonna win if Sean Avery is our best forward" and "our best guys have to be our best guys, not kids [meaning Dubi and Cally]". Well, our best guys were Dubi and Avery - and Torts was right. It wasn't quite enough to dethrone this better skilled team. In the third period, they came out like a very skilled team prematurely facing the final 20 minutes of their season, and we came out with not enough left in our limited tank. They outshot us 14-1 in the third, and we could only hold off so much. Like I said, Federov just did what the guys on the great teams do - I can't fault Redden or Lundqvist for letting that goal happen. That's just what the finishers do - and we don't.

Our opportunities to win this series came in Games 5 and 6. Those are the games where we came out bored and boring (which Harvey Danger teaches us are equivalent) and never gave ourselves a chance. Those are the games we can regret. Game 7, we were just beaten by a better team (and I have to believe that if we'd come out in 5 and 6 like we did in 7, we'd be getting swept by the Bruins as we speak). We'll talk about the good things Torts will do for us in the future...in the future. For now, be proud of the effort we put forward in Game 7, and remember how you felt after 2 periods of that game, compared to the chances everyone gave us 2 weeks ago. And compared to how we felt in February. Doesn't seem so bad from there, does it?