TAMPA, Fla. — This is it.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals will play tonight (the puck drops just after 8 p.m. ET) for a chance to face Vegas in the Stanley Cup Final.
Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. What pressure?
"It’s just another day," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said after morning practice, sarcastic as all-get-out. "A little bit of pressure on everybody, isn’t there? One team’s going to play for the Stanley Cup, the other team’s going home."
Yes, that covers it.
Here are seven things to know ahead of Wednesday night’s Game 7.
No. 1 — Hottest hot lap
At some point while on the road during this post-season, the Washington Capitals started to send a lone player out to skate a lap as fast as he could to signal the start of morning skate. It was Jay Beagle, then the Capitals lost. It was Alex Oveckin, and then the Capitals lost.
They needed a new skater, and on Wednesday morning the team made their pick: head coach Barry Trotz.
"I look at it real simply: they called my number, at this time of year you’re all in," Trotz said, after he’d caught his breath (Devante Smith-Pelly says he’ll probably be sore tomorrow).
"I was ready. I was surprised. And I was worried about the turns. The rudders haven’t been sharpened all year, so you didn’t see a lot of crossovers there. I used body mass and weight."
At the end of the lap, Trotz tried to slide across the red line on one knee, like Ovechkin had been doing. It didn’t go well.
"I almost bit it at the end there," he said.
Clearly, the Capitals are feeling pretty loose.
No. 2 — Chasing the Cup
There are a few future Hall of Famers playing in this Game 7 who haven’t yet hoisted the Stanley Cup, like Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Alex Ovechkin.
The Lightning’s big pointman said one of the reasons he and Stamkos wanted to stay in Tampa was to get another shot, together.
"We’ve been so close — very close one year," Hedman said. "Been to a conference final in three of the last four years. We’ve been close but haven’t reached our ultimate goal yet. For me and Stammer, we’ve almost been here for almost a decade now. We want to win with this organization. We want to bring a Stanley Cup back to Tampa."
He added: "It’s a big decision. It’s a longtime commitment from both sides. But that the end of the day, this is where we want to be. Where we want to win. I love this team."
No. 3 — Home Ice Advantage, maybe
The Capitals won the first two games in Tampa, and the Lightning won the next two in Washington. They faced a lot of questions about whether home ice really mattered, but both teams pulled out wins at home in Games 5 (Tampa) and 6 (Washington).
Stamkos figures the crowd will be a factor tonight.
"You work as hard as we did this year and put up the points we did to have this opportunity if it came," the captain of the top team in the Eastern Conference said. "You could see Games 5 and 6, home teams feeding off the energy of the crowd. For us in Game 5 it was huge. We saw it for them in Game 6. We expect the same from our fans tonight. I think we’ll feed off that."
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No. 4 — Ovi says "This is the time."
As always, here in Tampa, Ovechkin addressed media while standing behind a stool. We have no idea why he chooses to stand behind a stool, but it has become his thing.
“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be fun," he said. “You just have to go out there and don’t think it’s a Game 7. Of course, you’re going to think about it. You just have to do best that you can do. It’s the little things that can change the game and can cost the game. So, I’m pretty sure we’re ready and we want to be in this position after Game 5. We come back here after Game 6.
"This is the time.”
No. 5 — Tampa plans on a different look
Game 6 was all Capitals in a 3-0 victory, but as Trotz put it, "that was last game. To me, nothing really carries over."
The Lightning sure hope not, and they plan on showcasing a different team Wednesday.
"We know we have to be better, there’s no doubt about that," Stamkos said. "We watched the tape, went over the game plan. There’s not a lot to be said when you get into a scenario like this. We’ll elevate our game, no doubt about that."
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No. 6 — Who will be the hero?
We have no idea. But what if it’s Chris Kunitz again?
Right around this time last year, the Lightning forward (then a Penguin) scored in double-overtime to lift Pittsburgh over the Ottawa Senators in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Lightning have never lost a Game 7 at home, going 3-0. But what if they lose tonight? In that case, the Capitals hero could be Nicklas Backstrom. Yes, he’s playing with a banged up top hand, but in 29 career playoff games he has four overtime goals and six game-winners in all.
No. 7 — There’s nothing like it
We heard a lot of people wax eloquent about Game 7s and the gravity of the moment ahead of the moment itself, but no one put it better than Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
"When you’re growing up and you’re dreaming of things or you’re looking at your idols, I don’t remember myself sitting up and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, do I want to get that game-winning goal in Game 2,’" he said. "It’s Game 7."
"Not too many people get to be a part of this, and to be able to — like, you’re writing history."
