Capitals need to find way to win home game vs. Lightning tonight
WASHINGTON — The good news for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals is they still lead their Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The bad news for the Capitals, counterintuitive as it may be: They host Game 4.
So far, Washington is 7-1 in away games this post-season, closing out each of its first two series on the road.
Heading into tonight, the Caps are only 3-4 in their arena. The latest setback was a 4-2 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday, following victories at Tampa Bay by a combined score of 10-4 in the opening two games.
Ovechkin simply shrugged when asked about that discrepancy.
“We don’t think about it,” the three-time NHL MVP said. “We just play our game.” Others were less dismissive. “We can take a few things that we’ve done on the road and put it into our home game,” goalie Braden Holtby said. “Just a little simpler. Simpler play. Just a kind of, like, more gritty style.”
Asked what his club could do to fare better at home, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said: “Just play the way we do on the road. We’re invested there. We’re playing with real good focus. I didn’t think we were as focused as we have been normally on the road. So just pretend you’re on the road. All the buildings are pretty well the same these days.”
Trotz notices a difference in his players’ attitude on home ice, saying: “It’s ‘us against the world’ when were on the road.”
There is a league-wide trend here: Road teams are 38-34 in these playoffs.
“It’s easier to play on the road. It’s always that way on the road. Any team would say that,” Holtby said.