The Capitals are ready to give everything they have with their season on the line entering Game 5. (James Guillory — Imagn Images). [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b8679c54-c9d8-449b-9160-7652e9f7a18c.jpeg] The Capitals are ready to give everything they have with their season on the line entering Game 5. (James Guillory — Imagn Images). The Washington Capitals aren't oblivious to what's going on. And now, with the season on the line, they're ready to do something about it. Washington has been outplayed for the majority of the second round by the high-flying Carolina Hurricanes, a team that's set the standard with its heavy shot-volume mentality and lethal special teams. And now, they face a 3-1 series deficit, a feat they've only overcome twice in franchise history, the last time being 16 years ago. "Obviously, our backs are against the wall," Tom Wilson said after Game 4. "Next game's the biggest game." Though the Capitals knew it was going to be a challenge against Carolina, they certainly weren't expecting to be this outmatched and on the brink of elimination going into Game 5. After all, Washington dominated the Eastern Conference in the regular season, finishing as one of the top teams in the league after a summer retool on the fly translated to almost immediate chemistry in the room. Even when they looked to be down and out, they never were, as no other team in the NHL came back more times to win than Washington. However, the last month and a half has shown a trend in the wrong direction. That resilience and spark have faded, leaving behind remnants that come and go over the course of 60 minutes — and prove to be too little, too late. The theme has lingered into the postseason, exacerbated by struggles for the team's top scorers, Frederik Andersen's strong play and, glaringly, the absence of Martin Fehervary on the blue line "We're just not executing, making the play, whatever you want to call it," Carbery said. "And we're making some mistakes and they're capitalizing." Now going into Game 5, the Capitals need a new game plan, and for them, it centers around a simple foundation: find a way. "Obviously, we have to be better," Alex Ovechkin said. Of course, the biggest priority will be capitalizing on opportunities and doing a better job of generating pressure and controlling play. Not only does the team need more from the top-6, but the secondary scorers have to step up, too. Whether that means shaking up the forward lines again remains to be seen, but the current combinations just don't seem to be gelling. Then, after generating that pressure, there's the matter of sustaining it. "It's going to have to be all four lines, pushing, pushing, pushing, and we're going to have to slowly try and push them out of the series," Wilson said, adding, "Start with the first period and go from there." Defensively, the Capitals will have to lock down better in front of Logan Thompson, who also needs to get back to the level that he was playing at earlier in the playoffs. That grit and battle from earlier in the season is still there for the taking; it's just about going out and grabbing it. "It's not going to be easy, they're a hard-working team, but we're going to have some fight here," Wilson said. And if they can do that, a furious rally and some life late in the series won't seem like an unrealistic possibility. "We're going to go out there and do our best and leave it all out there and see what happens," Wilson added. Game 5 is at Capital One Arena on Thursday. "I really like our odds," Connor McMichael said simply.
