Kovacevic: What do Penguins think just before a big game?

WASHINGTON -- Bedlam will begin right around 7 p.m. today inside Capital One Arena, just before the puck drops between the Penguins and Capitals for their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

And because of this bedlam, we're often told, the home team should benefit from untold levels of intangible energy while the visitors ... well, what happens to the visitors?

Having shown up at the place unfortunately depleted of caffeine, it occurred to me, for the first time in a quarter-century of sportswriting, to actually ask someone this.

And boy, I'm glad I did, if only for this all-over-creation response from the resident rookie, Zach Aston-Reese:

Ha! Good for him!

But everyone's different, even in a common setting. And I had a suspicion that Chad Ruhwedel, among the most cerebral of the group, would be immersed in some level of intellectualism, only to have that proven correct in a hurry.

"Well, it really starts with how you take care of yourself through the playoffs, how you eat and sleep and train," Ruhwedel began. "It's a routine that goes through the regular season, and you've got to keep it up through the playoffs. Nothing changes. It's something you always can rely on."

Physically and mentally?

"Oh, absolutely. And for me, that means staying as even as I possibly can. You definitely don't want to get too high because it can come back to bite you. At the same time, you want to keep your confidence high. It's kind of a give-and-take."

So what'll be on his mind when he takes the ice tonight in an atmosphere that, at least in the playoffs with this particular matchup, is among the NHL's most spirited anywhere?

Not in general, I stressed with the question. Specifically.

"I'm just kind of going through plays," Ruhwedel replied without hesitation. "I try to walk my way through certain situations that might unfold right away."

See?

"Yeah, you knew that's what I'd say. But that's how I approach it. I try to block out the noise, the anthem, everything else and think of something that might happen in a game. A lot of guys use it as fuel, and I get that. It's fun. You like to be a part of it. But I'm using it to get ready."

Tom Kuhnhackl gets spiritual.

"I pray," he told me. "I use the whole time to pray to myself. I try to block everything out, relax, take a couple of deep breaths and pray."

Dominik Simon just made his playoff debut in the Philadelphia series, after which he'd tell me in the locker room, "That was awesome!" He does the opposite of blocking out.

"I try to enjoy it. You might see me smiling," Simon told me. "If it's a great atmosphere, it's really loud, I'll look around, read the signs, look at the scoreboard, look at the people. I want to see and hear everything."

Because?

"Because it's fun!"

Jamie Oleksiak isn't new to the NHL, but he's new to the playoffs. So he takes his cues from Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and the others.

"Those guys have been there. They've been through it. So I mostly just watch them, watch what they do," the big man told me. "But there's more to it than that."

More?

"I start kind of running through a checklist in my head of things I need to do and how I need to do them. I want to make sure that, by the time that first shift comes, everything I'm doing is just off muscle memory. If you go through something in your head enough times, it's just automatic in the game."

He laughed.

"I know some guys are different. They try to get away from hockey by thinking about ... I don't know, golf or whatever. I try to use it for some visualization."

All positive, of course.

"Of course. Big first shift. Keep it simple. Get the job done. From there, the rest of the game ... it really is just muscle memory."

The fussing and fidgeting formally ends at 7:08 p.m.

"Oh, for sure," Olli Maatta told me with a broad grin. "Then you just play. That's the easy part."

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY