Oshie: Capitals have 'no reason to be nervous' facing 0-3 hole
Washington Capitals veteran T.J. Oshie offered some advice to his teammates ahead of Sunday's do-or-die Game 4 against the New York Rangers: "Just let it all hang out there."
"We can't do anything about the first three games," he said. "The worst thing you can do is wake up tomorrow and regret not blocking a shot, or regret not backchecking as hard as you absolutely can."
He continued: "Your back's against the wall, you gotta throw everything at them. There's really no reason to be nervous, we don't got any time for it."
The Rangers hold a 3-0 chokehold on the first-round clash. Washington has never recovered from such a deficit, though it did pull off a 3-1 series comeback in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs against the Blueshirts.
New York has outscored the Capitals 11-5 in the series, but where the underdogs have struggled the most is on special teams. The Rangers capitalized on three of their 12 power-play opportunities. Washington has converted twice on 15 chances while allowing two shorthanded goals.
The play has been more even at five-on-five, with the ice tilting slightly in the Capitals' favor everywhere but the scoreboard:
| Team | CF% | SCF% | xGF% | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitals | 50.6 | 52.6 | 55.7 | 3 | 6 |
| Rangers | 49.4 | 47.4 | 44.3 | 6 | 3 |
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin has saved 1.76 goals above expected at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Connor McMichael is the only forward to score an even-strength goal for Washington.
Five players from the Capitals team that won the Stanley Cup in 2018 remain on the roster: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Tom Wilson, Oshie, and the injured Niklas Backstrom. Meanwhile, eight of Washington's players are getting their first taste of the playoffs this spring.
Though Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery acknowledged that this experience is "really valuable" for his younger players, he dismissed the notion that his team is just happy to have made the postseason.
"We will never be satisfied if we gained experience, got into the playoffs," he said. "To me, that's a loser's mindset."
He added: "It doesn't mean we're gonna win a Stanley Cup, but you should have a mindset that you expect to win, you expect to get into the playoffs, and you expect to beat the New York Rangers in the first round, and anything short of that is a failure."
Puck drops on Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET in Washington.