Capitals strike first in Eastern Conference finals
Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal and an assist in his Eastern Conference finals debut, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night in Tampa, Fla.
Braden Holtby stopped 19 shots and Michal Kempny, Jay Beagle and Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals, who are alive beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time in Ovechkin’s brilliant 13-year career.
Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat scored for Tampa Bay, which trailed 4-0 heading into the third period.
Game 2 is Sunday night at Amalie Arena, where Tampa Bay also lost Game 1 in the second round against Boston.
The Capitals dominated in improving to 6-1 on the road this postseason, with Kempny giving them an early 1-0 lead.
Ovechkin made it 2-0 a mere 5 seconds after the Lightning thought they had tied it in the closing seconds of the opening period. But Nikita Kucherov’s would-be breakaway goal was waved off because Tampa Bay had too many men on the ice.
T.J. Oshie won the ensuing faceoff in the Lightning zone, getting the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who fed Ovechkin for the Washington superstar’s ninth goal this postseason — 55th overall in 110 career playoff games — at 19:54 of the first.
Beagle and Eller scored in the first seven minutes of the second period for a 4-0 lead. Up to that point, the Lightning — the NHL’s highest-scoring team during
the regular season — had allowed as many goals as they had shots.
Tampa Bay replaced goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy with Louis Domingue after the starter allowed four goals on 25 shots through two periods.
Holtby lost his shutout when Stamkos scored at 3:45 of the third.
MAPLE LEAFS PROMOTE DUBAS >> The Toronto Maple Leafs promoted Kyle Dubas, who at 32 becomes one of the NHL’s youngest general managers. Dubas joined the team as assistant general manager in 2014. He is an advocate of analytics and succeeds 75-yearold Lou Lamoriello.