NBC Sports analyst and 1994 Stanley Cup-winning Ranger Eddie Olczyk talks about the Capitals’ playoff pressure, a championship mindset and Connor McDavid’s greatness with The Post’s Justin Terranova.
Q: Who is your team to beat?
A: For Washington, it’s now or never. … With the year that the Nicklas Backstrom line has had, along with depth players like Evgeny Kuznetsov and (Andre) Burakovsky, there’s no reason why Washington can’t make a run. They have one of the best goaltenders in the league (Braden Holtby), one of the best coaches in the league (Barry Trotz) and they are in a great spot. But can they do it in the most important time?
Q: Why now or never?
A: They have a lot of free agents on that team, including Karl Alzner and T.J. Oshie. This team could change dramatically, but the window isn’t going to be any wider than it is right now. You don’t get many opportunities like this. They can take what happened last year in a hell of a series against Pittsburgh, in which the push just came way too late, and use that as confidence.
Q: What separates a team with postseason success from a team like the Capitals?
A: Teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh, they play with a swagger like nobody is going to beat us. It is a mindset. That is something that I learned when I was part of that Rangers team in ’94. We knew we were the best and it didn’t matter if we spotted a team a couple of games or a couple of goals, we were going to find our way back into it. There is some of that psychological block because you are hearing about the past from everywhere.
Q: What is the most impressive part of Connor McDavid’s game?
A: Getting separation, whether he has the puck or not, is what makes him spectacular. There are very few players in the league who get faster with the puck: McDavid, Patrick Kane, Jeff Carter. The area between the two blue lines is where I love watching him play. It’s incredible to watch, and allowed him to be MVP of the league.
Q: Is there a different John Tortorella this season?
A: From the outside, he looks a little more even-keeled. He’s handling adversity as well as he does success, and his players have fed off of that this season. When (the Blue Jackets) went off the rails after that big winning streak, the speculation was that the players had a meeting with the coach because he started to go sideways. … The true color of a team is how they react when things get tough.