NHL Playoffs: Washington Capitals vs. NY Rangers Preview & Prediction of Game 7

Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers will face off at Madison Square Garden in New York for Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

The underdog Caps fought back from the brink of elimination on Wednesday night with a 2-1 win to tie the series at three games apiece.

Here's a look at what to expect on Saturday.

Washington Capitals

Washington has endured two crushing defeats in this series. They fought for hours in front of their home fans before losing in triple-overtime in Game 3 and surrendered the lead with 7.6 seconds to go and went on to lose 3-2 in overtime at MSG in Game 5.

Impressively, they've battled back after each loss.

In fact, the Caps haven't lost back-to-back games yet in these playoffs.

Despite all the chatter earlier in the series about Dale Hunter's unorthodox coaching decisions, he's now earning praise for everything from his ice-time management to his deployment of star player Alex Ovechkin.

The Great Eight was a force in Game 6, scoring the opening goal and registering three shots, five hits and three blocks—all in just 15:14 of ice time.

Rookie Braden Holtby has also looked every bit the equal of his counterpart in Hart Trophy-candidate Henrik Lundqvist. With 13 games under his belt, Holtby has already become the most experienced postseason goaltender in the Caps' system.

Holtby's unflappable nature is key to his success (via Dave Lozo of NHL.com):

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"You can look at him -- he's a calm dude over here, man," forward Joel Ward said (after Game 6), pointing out how Holtby was facing a throng of reporters with his arms folded across his chest at his locker. "Nothing fazes him. He's been like that since the Boston series, which is really impressive to go into that hostile environment with the defending champs."

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That sense of resilience has permeated the Washington lineup.

The Caps are playing a committed team game, and after the loss of defensive specialist Jay Beagle to injury, Jeff Halpern drew into his first game in six weeks and played a capable 10 minutes. He also drew a double-minor for high-sticking at a pivotal point in the second period, just after Jason Chimera's goal gave Washington the luxury of a rare two-goal lead.

Unlike the late penalty-killing meltdown in Game 5, this time the Caps killed it off without blinking an eye.

All told, Washington went 5-for-5 short-handed on the night.

The Caps have defeated the Rangers in the playoffs the last two times they've met. While the team is different now under Dale Hunter, many of the key players remain the same, and it's a sore spot for Rangers fans.

That seed of doubt could be the difference going into the pressure cooker of a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.

New York Rangers

The Rangers have also shown they can do the job in the face of elimination, coming back from a 3-2 series deficit in Round 1 to defeat the Ottawa Senators. Momentum right now probably favours Washington, but New York cannot be taken lightly.

Home-ice advantage should be a huge boost.

In addition to the support of their fans, John Tortorella will also be able to combat Dale Hunter's line matchups by having the last change, and the Rangers' centers will benefit on faceoffs.

The Rangers have been getting shots on Holtby, but have had their best success when they've created traffic in front of the net and caused the rookie to give up rebounds. Washington's defensive structure makes this tough, but when the season's on the line, the Rangers will need to penetrate deeper.

We've seen flashes of brilliance in this series from Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. Big-game goals from either or both on Saturday could go a long way towards justifying their superstar salaries.

From coach Tortorella all the way down through the lineup, the Rangers know they didn't do enough to win in Game 6. They'll have to be better on Saturday if they want to advance to Round 3 for the first time in 15 years.

Prediction

Before this series began, I predicted it would come down to the wire.

I also took Washington in six. Clearly, that's not going to happen.

I still believe the series will be decided by the narrowest of margins. The Rangers will benefit from being back home, but the Caps have been here before. They stared into the eye of the hurricane in Round 1, knocking out the defending champion Boston Bruins in overtime on the road.

I'll say the same thing will happen here. 3-2 Washington in overtime.

Let the game begin.

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