Unlike other timele s traditions, there's really no pleasure in watching theCapitals fall all over themselves in the playoffs year after miserable year.It's usually the same song and dance: Washington inspires confidence that this is the year things are differentwith a couple quick playoffvictories. But history suggests it's nothing more than a delusion, another round of sick and inhumanepunishmentforlong-starving D.C. hockey fans.No team in the history of the NHL (and really, all profe sional sports) has proven so proficient atblowing leads in the playoffs as the Capitals.In gamesafter taking a two-game series lead(2-0 or 3-1)the Capsare 14-43 all time. That's a .232 win percentage.It's uncanny and defies allempirical logic.GOLDEN STANDARD Here's the good news as the Capitals head into Thursday's Game 5 Jabrill Peppers Jersey of the Stanley Cup Final: Teams thattooka 3-1 series lead in the championship series have gone on to win the Cup 32 of 33 times(.970) in the best-of-sevenformat. The 1942 Maple Leafs are the only team in history to overcome those odds, pulling off the "reverse sweep" against the Red Wings with four consecutive wins. And in general, teams leading 3-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series have won 91 percent of the time, or 276-28.Bad news: The Caps account forfive of those 28 collapses, the most of any franchise.If the Capitalssquander this 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final, itwould mark the 11thtime in franchise history they found a way to lose a playoffseries after building a two-game cushion, adding a whole new level to this narrative that D.C. so desperately wants to put to rest. Though it's unreasonably negative and a bit sadistic, , let's look back on each of those playoff collapses of yore.1985 first round vs. IslandersBuildup:The Capitals made the playoffs for a third time after finishingsecond in the Patrick Divisionwith 101 points, tying what was then a franchise record. Their top five scorers Mike Gartner, Bob Carpenter, Dave Christian, Larry Murphy and Scott Stevens all were 25 or younger.Lead: Washington won the first two games in overtime, including a Game 2 double-OT clincher byGartner. They played best of five back then and needed just one more win to close things out, and so it began ...Collapse:Bet you can't gue s whobecame the firstteam inNHL history toblowa 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series.MORE: 1987 first round vs. IslandersBuildup: The Capitals saw a 21-point drop from their 1986 finish, but the familiar names were still around. Larry Murphy, a defensemen, led the team in scoring.Lead: The Caps and Mark Bavaro Jersey Isles split the series' first two games, but Washington built a 3-1lead on the strength of back-to-back wins at Na sau Coliseum in Games 3 and 4.Collapse:New York stormed Kareem Martin Jersey back with a 4-2 victoryin Game 5 and won 5-4 at home in Game 6 to force a seventh game in Washington one of the most famous in NHL history. They started playing April 18 and went on and on and one until Pat LaFountaine'sgoal in quadruple overtimeclinched the series at 1:58 a.m. ET Easter morning. The Easter Epic, as it came to be known, lasted 6 hours, 18 minutes.1992 first round vs. PenguinsBuildup:The Penguins were the defending Stanley Cup champions, having defeated the Capitals (and everyone else) along the way in 1991. Sound familiar? The Caps were led by the trio of Michal Pivonka, Dale Hunter andDino Ciccarelli, with a fresh-faced sophomore in Peter Bondra.Lead: The Capitals opened the series with a pair of home wins and practically had it in the bag after embarra sing the Pens on home ice with a 7-2 blowout in Game 4.Collapse:Penguins coach Scotty Bowman famously switched to a trap for Game 5 in a last-ditch effort to slow things down. It did the trick. Pittsburgh reeled off three straight wins, including on the road in Game 7. The series is probably best remembered for Mario Lemieuxs five-pointGame 6 at the Igloo.MORE: 1995 first round vs.PenguinsBuildup:The Capitals had just beaten the Penguins in 1994. And this season, Pittsburgh was withoutLemieux, who'd taken aleave of absence for the year to recover from treatments for Hodgkins lymphoma. Washington, a heavy underdog despite it all,had to like its chances, especially after ...Lead: Pittsburgh laid an egg with a pair of 6-2 lo sesin Washington after the teams split the opening two games B.J. Hill Jersey . A 3-1 lead for the Capitals. What could go wrong?Collapse:Luc Robitailles Game 5 overtime winner servedas the seminal moment of his brief stop in Pittsburgh. The Pens went on to blowouts in Games 6 and 7, outscoring the Capitals 10-1 to close out the series.1996first round vs. PenguinsBuildup:These guys again? The Capitals and Penguin met in the playoffs for a third year in a row. Everything was the same, pretty much, except Lemieuxhad returned.Lead:The Capitals went up 2-0 with back-to-back wins in Pittsburgh, but the Penguins took Game 3 to set up one of the most memorable goals in their history a game later.Collapse:In Game 4, Lemieux was ejectedfor instigating a fight with the Caps up 2-1 in the second period; Ken Wregget stuffed Joe Juneau on an overtime penalty shot; and Petr Nedved finally ended the marathon in a fourth overtime. Pittsburgh won Games 5 and Wayne Gallman Jersey 6 handily to close out the series.2003first round vs.LightningBuildup:No longer tormented by the rival Penguins (for now), this Capitals team was an odd collection of mostly older players and Jaromir Jagr, who had been traded to Washington a year earlier.Lead: TheCapitals stolethe first two games in Tampa, outscoring the Lightning, 9-3. Stop us if you've heard this before.Collapse: A Game 3 lo s in overtime (winner scored by Vincent Lecavalier) precipitated three consecutive lo ses for the Capitals, who scored just three goals in the final three games. People probably found ways to blame Alex Ovechkin for this one, even though he was merely 16years old and still in Moscow at the time.2009second round vs. PenguinsBuildup:Ah, yes, the first playoff meeting between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Neither had won a Stanley Cup in his young career. One still hasn't.Lead:This should have been a cla sic series. The Caps, feeling good coming off a first-round comeback against the Rangers (they trailed 2-0 and 3-1), took care a busine s at home in Games 1 and 2. Great. Clearly they should have learned from their 1990spredece sors by now.Collapse:After droppings Games 3-5, the Capitals actually went to Pittsburgh for Game 6