The Capitals have a chance to take a 2-0 series lead back home with a Game 2 win Thursday night against the Florida Panthers.
After Washington's surprise Game 1 win, Caps winger Garnet Hathaway joined 106.7 The Fan's BMitch & Finlay — presented by Lindsay Volvo Cars of Alexandria — to talk shop as they prepare for Game 2. Under the direction of head coach Peter Laviolette, Hathaway says they're using the short time in between games to focus on improvements.
"That's what kind of we've done the whole season," he said. "And it's a little more in-depth when you get into a series like this, because we could be facing them six more games in a row. So a day like today, you get as much sleep as you can, you get to the rink, you get out and you sit down and you say, 'Hey, today's gonna be going over clips that weren't our best,' you know, what we could have done better. Maybe adjustments, maybe things that they did that we didn't notice."
"And then [Thursday] will be the day that is positive," he said. "It's kind of like highlight reel, like this is what we did, this is what works. You guys keep doing that, go into that mentality. You know, you kind of go in with a confidence boost saying this works, and clearly we're skilled enough, good enough hockey players to do that once. We can do it again. That's gonna be kind of the ground work to be successful."
For the first time in three years, the Caps will be returning to Capital One Arena for Game 3 for a home playoff game in a full house, important one that's completely unleashed from the restraints of the pandemic. Hathaway was asked if he expects the home crowd to give the Caps a boost in the series.
"You know, honestly, I haven't even thought about getting back to D.C. yet," he said. "And now that you bring it up, I remember I was talking to [Nic Dowd] before last season's playoffs, maybe even before the bubble. And he was talking about his first year here and how loud Cap One was. And I can't wait to experience it."
"I would love to go back home with a two-game lead," he said. "You know it's funny, you know, during the anthem when everyone says 'O!' like for Ovi, and there were a couple [Tuesday] night [in Florida]. You could hear it in the stands. So we've got some support down here, we've got some people following us, and then obviously we'll go back home and it will be a full Cap One of Caps fans."
Asked for how he's mentally approaching Game 2, Hathaway replied, "You know, BMitch, maybe even pretend it's a zero-zero series or even down a game."
"We've talked a lot about momentum versus being desperate and what's more valuable to a team, what helps a team win more," he continued. "And I think you can go back and forth, I think it's a pretty good argument, but teams that need a win and know they need a win, whoever goes into that game doing whatever they can regardless of how the last game went is usually the team that comes out playing better and has a better night."
