If the 2021 playoffs have revealed anything, it’s that Peter Laviolette loves the juice.

Juice, in Lavy’s language, is a noun and another word for enthusiasm or passion. He’s used the saying multiple times this season, including on consecutive game days to start the 2021 playoffs.

Laviolette first talked about the juice when describing the Capitals’ enthusiasm out on the ice during their morning skate ahead of Game One on Saturday.

“I can just tell ya from the ice, there’s good juice out there. You can feel it,” Laviolette said (at the 2:36 mark). “That’s the way it should be. I don’t know if that juice is an advantage because I’m sure Boston has taken the ice with juice and I’m sure every other team that got the chance to play for the Stanley Cup is taking the ice with that same juice. It feels good. The regular season is over. I always think it’s just about getting in and turning the page. Eventually, you’re going to wake up and it’s gameday of the playoffs which is the whole reason why you train in the summer. You go through training camp, you play the amount of games allotted that year, and you fight like crazy to be one of those teams that gets a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. When that actually happens, there’s definitely a feel to it.”

Monday, Laviolette was asked about what it was like to play in front of a 25 percent full Capital One Arena, a bump up from the 10 percent capacity the Capitals had late in the season due to the improving pandemic (at least in the United States). The comment comes at the 7:42 mark.

“I’m a big fan of the juice,” Laviolette said laughing, appearing to realize he made a funny. “I thought it was awesome. You could feel that there was more people in there. Hopefully, that continues to grow, that number continues to grow for us where we can pack it up as we move further into the playoffs. But it was great having them there and we definitely felt the energy.”

If the Capitals win tonight, hockey superstition will probably demand that Lavy says this every game day moving forward. And if we’re all lucky, it’ll go as well as Barry Trotz’s hydrate comments in 2018.