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Is this Capitals’ team mentally tougher than past versions?

Alex Ovechkin

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 02: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals warms up before a game against the New York Rangers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Verizon Center on May 2, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Losing in overtime is tough, but bouncing back from a lengthy overtime loss might be even harder. The Capitals played for 114:41 fruitless minutes on Wednesday. Now they have until Saturday to mull what went wrong before they have a chance at redemption.

This could mark a turning point in the series, but Washington’s Karl Alzner thinks they have what it takes to fight back.

“It is good for our heads to know we were in the exact same position against a very, very good team and we managed to climb out of that,” Alzner said, referring to the fact that Boston also had a 2-1 series lead against Washington in the first round. “I’m sure the guys will be fine, we’ve lost in overtime in these playoffs already and we’ve found a good way to bounce back. We are a lot mentally tougher of a team than we have been in the past.”

Washington lost in overtime in Game 1 and Game 6 of the first round, but they bounced back from both those setbacks by winning their subsequent contest. That being said, neither of those two overtime matches lasted nearly as long as Wednesday’s triple-overtime loss.