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Alex Ovechkin believes the Caps will tie the series in Columbus and play a Game Five in Washington

By Ian Oland

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April 16, 2018 5:43 pm

In the locker room after Game Two, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin spoke quietly after his team’s second consecutive loss in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ovechkin seemed unsure how to explain the Caps latest playoff collapse.

“Obviously.. we have opportunity to finish it up and we didn’t,” Ovechkin said after tallying two power-play goals. “Two games in a row. But I think we played a solid game. We just didn’t win.”

The Capitals took an early 2-0 lead for the second consecutive game only to surrender the lead late and fall in overtime.

During that short scrum with the media, Ovechkin eventually found the same dogged perseverance and the I’m not going down like this spirit that has made him one of the NHL’s all-time greatest players.

Video

Ovechkin’s comments begin at the 42-second mark.

A reporter suggested that the stats said the Capitals dominated. The Capitals recorded 52 shots in regulation – marking the most regulation shots in a home playoff game and the second-most shots in franchise history (54 shots, April 26 at Montreal Canadiens).

“It happens. It’s hard,” Ovechkin said. “You right now in hard position, but…,” Ovechkin trailed off.

Then he said this.

“It’s going to be fun when we bounce back and gonna tie the series and come back here and play Game Five at home.”

Ovechkin’s comments weren’t necessarily a guarantee, but an optimistic belief moving forward. During the 2015 postseason, Ovechkin shared the same type of comments heading into a Game Seven against the New York Rangers.

“We’re going to come back and win the series,” Ovechkin said. “We’re going to play our game, and we’re going to come back and we’re going to play Montreal or Tampa.”

The Capitals lost 2-1 in overtime.

During Barry Trotz’s postgame press conference, the coach shared that he has “a lot of belief in this group.” “Excited” to play in Columbus, Trotz has confidence the Metropolitan Division winners can make some noise in Ohio during Game Three, Tuesday night.

“This experience allows us to grow,” Barry Trotz said. “Right now, we’re sitting here two in a hole, but at the same time, your group has an opportunity to grow, fight their way back. There’s a lot of character in our room – that’s one of the thing about our team that is under appreciated sometimes: our group has a lot of fight in it. We’re not going away. We’re going to be around. You’re going to see us dig in. You’re going to see us fight. You’re going to see us make something happen here.”

Full Coverage of Game Two

Headline photo: @Capitals

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