DC Sports Box: Game 7 recap

It was a tough game to watch, and I can assure you it was an equally tough recap to write. The Caps got outplayed in every facet (except goaltending until Wednesday) for much of the series, and that's why they're heading to the offseason and the Penguins are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second straight year. And all I keep thinking is, "I can't believe that same Capitals vs. Penguins playoff script played out again." My recap is at DC Sports Box:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Washington may have been a city in denial for much of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure, the Capitals were getting outshot in every game and outworked in most, and they never seemed to be able to put together a full 60 minutes of solid effort, but somehow they had found a way to get to a Game Seven on home ice.

At worst, it seemed, Game Seven provided a coin flip: even odds that the Caps could come away with one more win and reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in franchise history. After all, the series had been unbelievably close on the scoreboard for six games. Three of those games required overtime, and the Penguins were outscoring the Caps in the series by only one goal.

But those watching every game must have known, even if they didn't want to admit, that the Penguins were controlling too much of the play, putting too many shots on net and drawing too many penalties. Over the first six games, the Penguins outshot the Caps by 66 and had 11 more power plays, both signs that Pittsburgh was dictating the play even though the results weren't making that obvious.

In Wednesday night's Game Seven, the results did make that obvious.

Read the rest (with lots of depressing player quotes) at DCSportsBox.com.