Streak show
Lightning closing in on final with 3rd straight win
TAMPA, Fla. — Lightning are on the brink of a return trip to the Stanley Cup finals.
Coach Jon Cooper and his players say it won’t be easy to close the deal against the Capitals.
“We haven’t won anything yet,” Cooper said Saturday night after Cedric Paquette scored in the opening minute and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots to help the Lightning hold off the Caps, 3-2, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan also scored as the home team won for the first time in the best-ofseven matchup, with Tampa Bay taking a 3-2 series lead and moving within one victory of advancing to the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in four seasons.
“Let’s be honest,” Cooper added. “You’ve got to get four, not three.”
The Capitals, in the conference final for the first time in the Alex Ovechkin era, have lost three straight after winning twice on the road to begin the series.
Ovechkin scored with 1:36 remaining, trimming what once was a three-goal lead to one, however Vasilevskiy made three more saves to finish the victory.
Game 6 is Monday night in Washington, where Tampa Bay has already won to improve to 5-1 on the road this postseason.
“We have a lot of unfinished business. This isn’t even close to being over,” Callahan said. “This last game’s definitely the hardest against a very, very good Washington team. “To go in their building and try to close it out is going to be tough.”
The Capitals were encouraged by the way they finished the game and are confident they can force the series back to Tampa for Game 7.
“This group has got its backs against the wall, and this group has responded all year,” coach Barry Trotz said. “I don’t expect anything different.”
The Capitals won the first two games on the road, scoring 10 goals on Vezina Trophy finalist Vasilevskiy and sending the Lightning — won had the best record in the East during the regular season — into desperation mode.
Washington’s Dmitry Orlov turned the puck over in the neutral zone on the opening shift of the night and Callahan made the Caps pay for the mistake, feeding Paquette for a 1-0 lead just 19 seconds into the game.
Palat’s second goal of the series made it 2-0. Tampa Bay extended the advantage to three goals when Callahan scored 33 seconds into the second period. — AP