Capitals force Game 7 with 3-0 victory for Lightning
Capitals 3 Lightning 0
(Series tied at 3-3)
WASHINGTON — Maybe this is how it should be. Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be.
Either way, it’s how it will be. One game to decide the NHL’s Eastern Conference.
Game 7.
Get ready, Tampa Bay, because it’s coming. Wednesday night at Amalie Arena. One game to decide which team goes to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Lightning and the Capitals. If you think you know who is going to win, you’re crazy. No one knows what will happen in a Game 7. And no one knows what will happen in this series because nothing in this series has made sense.
The Lightning had a chance to wrap up this crazy intense series full of momentum shifts against the Capitals on Monday night in Washington. But the Caps responded with a gut-check performance that, frankly, few thought they had in them. A team known more for throwing up than showing up when the postseason gets serious, the Caps won one of the biggest games in franchise history.
And because of the Caps’ 3-0 victory, the Lightning will now have to win Wednesday night to go to the Cup final for the third time in franchise history.
The good news: the game will be in Tampa, Fla. Teams work all season to get home-ice advantage in the playoffs, and specifically, home-ice in a Game 7. The Lightning have earned that right.
The bad news, however, is that Game 7 is even necessary. The Caps have new life, stopping some serious bleeding after losing three straight. On the other hand, for the Lightning, this is one that got away. If they lose Game 7, it will be Game 6 that likely will keep the Lightning waking up in cold sweats all summer long.
The other concern? The Caps were good in Game 6. Really good. And, if we’re being honest, the better team for much of the six games. That’s why the Lightning might regret Game 6 because they was so close for so long.
The chance was there. But the Lightning could not take advantage.
You also have to wonder if the Lightning can rebound not only emotionally from losing a Game 6, but physically. The Caps, led by their captain Alex Ovechkin, were absolute beasts Monday night, throwing heavy checks all over the ice. It was by far the physical game of the series with Washington doing most of the hitting.
Game 6 was a classic case of one team playing desperate hockey because their season was literally on the line. Washington was facing elimination and it played like it. The Lightning managed to withstand the first period, playing decent hockey along the way.
But just like Game 4 here in Washington, the Caps dominated the second period. But because of the outstanding play (again) from Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning weren’t blown out.
It could have been 5-0 after two. Instead, it was only 1-0. The Caps lone goal came late in the period when T.J. Oshie scored on the power play. Vasilevskiy had no chance on a laser from the slot.
The Lightning couldn’t generate much offense, particularly because its two best scorers, Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, weren’t much of a factor, especially in the first two periods.
Tampa Bay made a significant push to start the third period, and had several opportunities to tie the game, only to be denied by Caps goalie Braden Holtby. He made season-saving glove saves on Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. That allowed the Caps to maintain that 1-0 lead.
The lead was then stretched to 2-0 when Devante Smith-Pelley scored with 9:58. That pretty much sealed it and set up a Game 7. Oshie added an empty-netter with 49.7 left.