Power play, penalty kill giving life to Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning stormed back in the Eastern Conference final against the Capitals, thanks in part to a thriving power play and suddenly reliable penalty-killing unit.

To regain control of the best-of-seven matchup that continues Saturday night in Tampa, the Caps need a lift from their special teams, too.

“The series is tied 2-2,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It doesn’t matter how you got there.”

The Lightning, who have taken two straight in a series in which the home team has yet to win, believe they haven’t played their best.

The Capitals were dominant in winning twice on the road, then sputtered — particularly on the Alex Ovechkinled power play — while dropping the next two games at home.

“I think we look at it realistically,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “I mean, I said to everybody in September, even yesterday, and they’re saying the same thing: Sign me up. Best-of-three, got a chance to maybe go to the Stanley Cup Final, sign me up.

“I don’t think anybody thought the series would go four straight or anything like that. There’s two really high-quality teams that are going to go nose-to-nose,” Trotz added.

“There’s twists and turns in the road sometimes. ... It’s just another layer of adversity. This group has taken on any adversity that has been thrown its way all year.”

Since yielding three power-play goals in the first two games of the series, two of them in the closing seconds of a period, the Lightning have gone 7-for-7 killing penalties over the last two games.

Not bad for a team that had one of the most potent power plays (third, 23.9 percent) in the NHL during the regular season, while also ranking among the league’s worst at killing penalties (28th, 76.1 percent).

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has a power-play goal in each of the first four games of the conference finals.

Six of his seven goals during this postseason have come in man-advantage situations, including his franchise-best 11th career playoff power-play goal (snapping a tie with Martin St. Louis) in Game 4 on Thursday night.

“Desperation. Realizing how important it is, especially in this series against the group that they have,” Stamkos said of the improved play on the penalty kill.

“It starts with the goaltending, and then it starts with guys willing to sacrifice. I think it’s been a challenge,” Stamkos added. “When the power play is going well like we are, the penalty kill wants to step up and be just as good, and vice versa when it’s the other way. ... It’s been a lot of fun to watch.”

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 of 38 shots in Game 4. He has bounced back nicely since allowing 10 goals over five periods in the first two games.