O.M.G

On Monday, May 7th, I sat on a family friends coach chowing down pizza as my leg shook like crazy. The Washington Capitals were playing in game six of the playoffs versus the Pittsburg Penguins. If they won, they would be moving on to round three against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But everyone knows they are cursed. The Washington Capitals have not been able to bypass the Penguins for two years in a row now, so what did it have to take to move on to round three this time? Earlier in the day, it was not looking good when it was announced that Nicklas Backstrom would not be playing in the game with an upper body (his hand) injury. And do not forget that Andre Burakovsky was absent along with Tom Wilson (after his VERY controversial “hit”).

The game started and as usual, the terrible towels came out in Pittsburg with the taunts hitting Washington Capitals goalie, Holtby. During the second period, Alex Chiasson scored a goal for the Capitals with the help from Nathan Walker, the first Australian player to ever play in the NHL postseason but also the first one to record a postseason assist. But then the stupid Penguins scored and we were back to a tie game.

My leg shook harder and everyone around me bit their nails. The game stayed 1-1 through the second period and all through the 3rd. And in typical Capitals fashion, we were off to overtime. With 14:33 left in overtime, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the winning goal to prove all the haters wrong.

We would not choke to the Penguins this year. As the whole bench cleared, Washington Capitals fans all around me cheered. It was one of my favorite sports memories to see happen. This is the first time since 1998 (the year I was born….) that the Capitals will be going to the Eastern Conference finals. That is twenty years if you could not do the math. This will be a terribly hard series (next two weeks) against a fantastic team, Tampa Bay Lightning. But good luck boys. We are all cheering you on here at home.

Washington Capitals Third Round Playoff Schedule:

• Washington at Tampa Bay Friday, May 11^th at 8:00 p.m.
• Washington at Tampa Bay Sunday, May 13th at 8:00 p.m.
• Tampa Bay at Washington Tuesday, May 15th at 8:00 p.m.
• Tampa Bay at Washington Thursday, May 17th at 8:00 p.m.
• Washington at Tampa Bay Saturday, May 19^th at 7:15 p.m.*
• Tampa Bay at Washington Monday, May 21^st at 8:00 p.m.*
• Tampa Bay at Washington Wednesday, May 23rd at 8:00 p.m.*

*If one team wins all four of first four games they move onto the second round*

*Times are subjected to change*