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Washington Capitals: Hope and History on the Road in Game 7

Well, here we are.  Another “Game 7” for the Washington Capitals.  There have been 55 Games 7 played in the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2005-2006, and of that number, the Caps have been a participant in ten of them, tied with the Boston Bruins for most in that span.  There is an odd wrinkle in Wednesday night’s Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference final, though — while only Boston has hosted more Games 7 in this era (eight) than Washington (seven), the Caps have comparatively little experience in this sort of thing on the road in the Rock the Red era.  Only three times have the Caps played a Game 7 on the road since 2005-2006, losing two decisions in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers, both by 2-1 margins (in 2012 and in overtime in 2015), and beating Boston at TD Garden by a 2-1 margin in overtime in 2012.

Is there anything that can be gleaned from such a sparse record of Games 7 on the road?  For the Caps, not really…

Is there anything in the broader history of road Games 7 that stands out?

The point of all of this is, if you think there is some magic number to indicate which of these teams has an advantage, it is not found in the recent history of Games 7.  Caps fans will be hoping that the relevant recent history is their superb performance on Monday night.  For Tampa, the hope will be that the recent history that matters is Games 3-5 that put them on the edge of a Stanley Cup berth.  One team’s hopes will be fulfilled.  The other will play golf.

We hear there are a lot of great golf courses in Florida.  Hope the Lightning players get a chance to re-acquaint themselves with them soon.

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