The sound of 18,000 cowbells shaken in unison is akin to the noise if Santa’s sleigh was caught in a hurricane of angry cicadas.
If you were at Verizon Center Saturday night, you became familiar with it. It pulsed throughout the Washington Capitals game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and crescendoed at every pressure point, of which there were many. Every fan had been given a small red cowbell upon entry and, subjected to their second overtime in as many playoff games, they bled their nervous energy out through their noisemakers.
This time it took double overtime, and it didn’t end the way they wanted it to.