1. As the saying goes, it’s darkest before the dawn. And before you respond with some “well, actually” Neil deGrasse Tyson quote (sure,the darkest part of any night is the midpoint between sunset and sunrise; whatever), the point here is that the Caps have twice now fought off elimination and made this series a best-of-one at Verizon Center on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, it’s a field day for fans of post-hoc narratives about mental fortitude... which isn’t to say that hasn’t played a part.
Trotz on going down 3-1: "It brought some focus to it.