The St. Louis Blues are ready. How could they not be? It's Game 7.
The winner Wednesday in Dallas goes on in the best tournament in sports, and Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo can't wait.
"This is what we play for, games like this, where we have the opportunity to show up on a big stage," he said, according to Chris Pinkert from the team's website. "I think all the guys in the locker room are thinking the same thing. I expect a big effort from us."
It's the second straight Game 7 for St. Louis after they eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks by going the distance in the first round.
The Blues have been through a lot this season, dealing with myriad injuries yet still thriving. And it's that resiliency they must channel Wednesday, according to head coach Ken Hitchcock.
"(The group) was built through adversity," he said. "It's a really proud group. I would be awful shocked if you didn't get our A-game. ... This is a chance to knock off some really good hockey teams to get a chance to play in the conference finals. Our guys should be pumped up to do it."
Also working in the Blues favor: They're 6-2 in their last eight games in Dallas, and this will be the first Game 7 for the Stars at American Airlines Center. Pressure's on them.
The teams have played three Game 7s before - the Blues own a 2-1 lead, with all three games going to overtime.
Nobody will be complaining if the fourth does.
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Blaming Alex Ovechkin is easy. He's low-hanging fruit, thanks to the fact his Washington Capitals have never advanced past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But there's so much more to hockey, and to a seven-game series, than one player.
Here are three combined reasons on why the Pittsburgh Penguins were victorious and the Capitals were ousted.
The Capitals had an 8.3 shooting percentage at five-on-five during the regular season, which ranked second in the NHL. That dropped to 5.2 percent in the playoffs. Only the Islanders, Blackhawks, and Flyers were worse in the postseason.
Washington scored 252 goals during its dominant, presidential regular season - most in the Eastern Conference and second in the NHL. The well ran dry at the wrong time. Ask Evgeny Kuznetsov, the club's leading regular-season scorer, who bagged one goal in 12 playoff games despite 39 shots on goal, third-most on the team.
That's life.
These Penguins are so much more than Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Think about it: Pittsburgh eliminated an excellent Capitals team without Marc-Andre Fleury, and by keeping Crosby and Malkin to only a combined four points.
Nick Bonino had 29 points in 62 games during the regular season. He has 10 in 11 playoff games - that's 34 percent of his regular-season production. Kuznetsov must hate him: Bonino scored twice on 12 shots in the series, both overtime winners.
There's Phil Kessel, who's proving he actually lives for the playoffs, and Carl Hagelin, who looked so utterly lost as a Duck earlier this season, and who's been on absolute fire ever since he put on the black and gold. Then there is Trevor Daley, and Kris Letang, who had three assists and played over 30 minutes in four of five games.
The Penguins finished the season 33-16-5 under Mike Sullivan. This is a formidable team.
Now the Capitals know what it's like to be on the opposite side of a young goalie who seemingly comes out of nowhere to steal the show in the playoffs.
Braden Holtby started only six games for the Capitals in 2011-12, before being handed the reins in the postseason. He made 14 starts, winning a Game 7 against the Bruins, before losing one to the Rangers. Holtby finished with a .935 save percentage and 1.95 goals-against average. It was a sign of things to come.
Matt Murray is doing his best Holtby impression, his performance punctuated by the fact he outplayed Holtby in the six-game series - even though Holtby finishes the playoffs with a stunning 94.3 save percentage at five-on-five. (The Penguins, as a team between Murray and Jeff Zatkoff, have the same mark.)
Murray's playoff numbers are stupendous: 9-2-1 with a .930 save percentage and one shutout in 13 games. But, yeah, that's Ovechkin's fault.
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P.K. Subban is ready to drop it like it's hot ... on the court.
The Montreal Canadiens defenseman is teaming up with Snoop Dogg for a charity basketball game in June.
Snoop is expected to choose 22 more players, rounding out the rosters with other celebrities in music, film, and sports, according Bill Brownstein of the Montreal Gazette.
Proceeds will go to Subban's Montreal Children's Hospital foundation and the Snoop Youth Football League.
The NHL star and legendary rapper connected during a California road trip in March, when Subban gave him a Canadiens jersey on a day off in Anaheim.
Snoop has been a hockey fan for years. Who could forget his classic interview with Scott Oake on "Hockey Night in Canada" at the Stanley Cup Final in 2007?
The charity game will take place June 11 at the Verdun Auditorium in Montreal.
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Sidney Crosby wanted to put on a show. But he'll take the series win.
The second-round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals was hyped as a rematch of their 2009 second-round series, when Crosby and Alex Ovechkin combined for a whopping 27 points in a seven-game thriller that the Penguins won. About the only similarity this time around was Pittsburgh's victory.
While Ovechkin finished with seven points in the series, Crosby had only two assists, his supporting cast picking up the slack - Matt Murray, Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel, and Nick Bonino in particular.
"Sorry to disappoint," Crosby said with a smile after Pittsburgh's overtime, series-clinching win Tuesday night, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.
"It's not even the same thing, to be honest," he added. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to replicate that (2009 series). Trust me, I'd love to have however many goals in the series, whatever it was, seven or eight. I think that's tough. No series is the same. Different things happen. ...
"I don't think you see too many things repeat like that. Different teams, different personnel, but we're happy we won it."
Ovechkin would surely trade his seven points in the series to be playing some more hockey. Hell, he'd probably trade his production for a Game 7.
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It was always going to be Brian Elliott. You knew it. We knew it. St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchock knew it, too. He simply refused to say Tuesday.
Cat's out the bag. Elliott will start in the crease for Game 7 against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, the club tweeted.
Hitch said Elliott showed up yesterday and wanted to stop pucks. He was impressed by that. Talked to him. Wanted to make sure he felt good.
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) May 11, 2016
None of the Blues practiced Tuesday, so that Elliott did had some people wondering what was up in the Blues' crease.
Elliott was pulled in Game 6 after a shaky first period, replaced by Jake Allen, who stopped all of the only seven shots he faced in 41:24. But Elliott's been a rock for the Blues in the playoffs, with a .926 save percentage in 13 games.
Game 7 begins shortly after 8 p.m. ET.
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