QUICK-STRIKE CAPS TWO WINS AWAY FROM CUP FINAL
Washington finally shedding choker label after jolting Bolts for second straight win
WASHINGTON 6, TAMPA 2
It was on the morning of Game 2 when Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was asked if there were any planned lineup changes for that night’s game.
“The only change needed is everyone has to play way better,” said Cooper.
Enough said.
In Game 1 of the NHL’s Eastern Conference final, the Lightning had played their worst game of the playoffs. If there was a silver lining to grab hold of, it was that the team had been in this position before and lived to tell about it. In the previous round, Tampa had also been in embarrassed in Game 1, only to rebound with four straight wins against the Boston Bruins. This time was different. This time, the Lightning ran up against an opponent that didn’t stop pushing.
Forget what you previously knew about the Washington Capitals. This team might have gained a reputation as playoff chokers, but ever since it knocked off the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the second round, the players have rode a crest of momentum that has carried over into the Eastern Conference final.
In Game 1, the Capitals dominated the Lightning in a 4-2 win that looked a lot worse than the score suggested. In Game 2, the Capitals were even better in a 6-2 victory that put Washington two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years.
The best-of-seven series now shifts to Washington for Game 3 Tuesday. It’s a game that Tampa needs to win. Then again, they needed this one too.
While the players weren’t calling it a must-win, no one wanted to be heading to Washington down 2-0.
“The pressure’s on us,” said Cooper, who wasn’t expecting the Capitals to let their foot off the gas.
“Your focus has to be on getting to four as quickly as you can,” said Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. “There’s nothing wrong with being greedy at this time of year.”
The Lightning, meanwhile, had been searching for a level of desperation that had been missing in Game 1. They had promised to be better in every facet of the game. They would take more shots, be tighter defensively and be more disciplined. They would learn from their past mistakes. They weren’t going to get caught with their pants down again.
And then the puck dropped on Game 2 and Washington’s Tom Wilson scored 28 seconds into the first period.
It was a helluva way to begin a so-called must-win game. And though the Lightning pushed back and took a 2-1 lead before the end of the period, it turned out to be a sign of things to come.
Even without Nicklas Backstrom in the lineup, this is a Capitals team that seems to have figured out how to win at this time of year. Right now, they are getting everything: good goaltending, stifling team defence, production from all four lines.
The Lightning are getting none of that. This obviously wasn’t the start the Lightning had been hoping for. But in a weird teachable moment kind of way, it provided another opportunity for the team to deliver the pushback that had previously eluded them.
Thanks to a couple of Washington penalties — one deserved, one that should never have been — this time it happened.
First, Wilson was called for goalie interference. About two minutes later, T.J. Oshie was given a high-sticking penalty when a puck — not a stick — hit Victor Hedman in the face. Either way, the Lightning made the most of the opportunities and scored two power play goals in just over three minutes to take a 2-1 lead.
For a brief moment, it seemed the Lightning were doing what made them so successful in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In Game 1, the Lightning had managed two shots in the first period. They had 13 in Game 2.
And yet, all that goodwill was washed away in a second period that saw Washington score three goals, including two in the final 62 seconds.
It was a demoralizing way to end the period. With the game tied, a Tampa Bay defenceman blew a tire behind the net and gave up the puck to Jakub Vrana, who found Lars Eller in front for his fifth goal. Seconds later, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was called for goalie interference and the Capitals quickly made him pay by scoring on a bad angle goal with 2.9 seconds remaining in the period.
In the third, goals from Alex Ovechkin and Brett Connolly put the game out of reach.
With 10 goals and 19 points, Ovechkin has officially entered the Conn Smythe Trophy race.
After all, he and the Caps are now only two wins away from playing for a Cup.
Your focus has to be on getting to four as quickly as you can. There’s nothing wrong with being greedy at this time of year.