from Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post,

You would have to live somewhere between optimism and insanity to predict the Caps will win this series. NHL teams that drop the first two games of a seven-game set at home go on to lose about 80 percent of the time. The Caps have lost six straight games in Pittsburgh. They have lost eight of nine playoff series against the Penguins. We might as well rename the Potomac the Monongahela, put french fries inside our empanadas and be done with it.

Still, Washington’s only chance, it seems to me, is to ease back into the team it’s been for the past two years. Don’t try to reinvent yourself in May. Don’t worry about flipping your lines. Don’t bother scratching 15-goal scorer Brett Connolly in favor of Paul Carey, who recorded zero NHL points this season. And there is really no need to bench a two-time Vezina Trophy finalist, who boasts some of the best postseason goaltending statistics in the history of the league, even if you’re not thrilled with his play.

I argued this point with dozens of Caps fans online Sunday morning, and they mostly disagreed with me, applauding Trotz for yanking Holtby in the middle of his second straight disappointing outing. It’s a standard NHL move, one that wasn’t particularly surprising — or effective.

I would just counter that these Capitals have a tortured, agonizing, abusive playoff history. The organization is shrouded by a nasty mist that shimmers with impending doom. This team needs calm faith right now, not a leadership ready to fling its controller into the wall and rage-quit the game.

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