from Thomas Boswell of The Washington Post,

Now is the time for Washington fans, and Capitals fans especially, to get as excited and emotional as they want, provided nobody falls off a roof. What you think is happening is probably really happening. Anyone who makes predictions is banished. Watch, root or go crazy, just don’t predict. As for thrilled, just go for it.

For the Capitals themselves, however, this is the time to do perhaps the most difficult task of mental and emotional preparation in sports — channel that same excitement and emotion which millions feel but transform it into focus. Celebrate goals. But then reset every neuron toward attention to the moment, to detail.

“This series has excited the fans,” said Alex Ovechkin, whose 14 goals this postseason has only been topped once in the NHL playoffs since 1997. “But again, it’s only two [wins]. Move forward and don’t think about it too much.”

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