My feeling was we don't really do well in games where we have the first chance to clinch( and we have multiple games to do so ), so I looked back at the last two runs how we fared.
2020
CBJ Game 5 : 5-4 OT Win
BOS Game 5 : 2-1 2OT Win
NYI Game 5: 2-1 2OT Loss
DAL Game 5: 3-1 2OT Loss
2021
FLA Game 5: 4-1 Loss
CAR Game 5: 2-0 Win
NYI Game 6: 3-2 OT Loss
MTL Game 4 : 3-2 OT Loss
2022
FLA Game 4: 2-0 Win
So we are 4-5 in these games, which is better than my feeling was, but still not that good.
Well, as I also said after Game 5 - we've done this exact same thing four previous times in recent years in the ECF, and here's what happened afterwards:
2015 vs. NYR: Lost Game 6 (at home), won Game 7
2016 vs. PIT: Lost both Game 6 and 7
2018 vs. WSH: Lost both Game 6 and 7
2021 vs. NYI: Lost Game 6 (away), won Game 7
We've always won Game 5 in the ECF's tied 2-2 and lost Game 6 afterwards. Four straight times that's happened. We've twice had the chance to close it out at home in Game 6 and lost both times. We really need to buck this trend because it's infuriating. We're 12-1 in our last 13 home playoff games so hopefully that theme continues tonight in the biggest way.