Capitals 6 Lightning 3 (NHL)

[swamprat]

It started off as a magical evening. The President's Trophy was presented to the Lightning for the best regular season record. Steven Stamkos received a silver hockey stick from Vinny Lecavalier and owner Jeff Vinik for breaking the Vinny's franchise record for goals scored, lifetime. It was the final home game for the best season in Tampa Bay history and one of the best in NHL history. The crowd was playoff excited. Then the Bolts laid and egg.

 

Washington kept the puck down in Tampa Bay zone most of the 1st period and 7 minutes in created a 4 on 2 rush that resulted in a Nicholas Backstom goal to start off the scoring. T.J. Oshie scored on a rebound that Vassy should have hung on to and then deflected a shot by John Carlson during a Washington power play to put the Caps up 3-0 after 1. The Bolts only manage 5 shots during the 1st period.

 

Dmitry Orlov made a beautiful pass to Backstrom who punched in his second goal of the game and Washington was up 4-0. The Lightning defense was horrible all night. J.T. Miller got Tampa Bay on the board with a defection past Holtby on a shot from Makhail Sergachev and it was 4-1 after 2. Again, the Bolts were out shot 15-9 in the peroid.

 

3 minutes into the third, Tyler Johnson put a shot through the 5 whole on Holtby on a breakaway and the crowd got back into it sensing another comeback. However, Alexander Ovechkin score his 50th and 51st goals of the season in a pan of a minute and a half to seal the deal. Nikita Kucherov scored a power play goal with less than a minute to go to close out the scoring.

 

The Bolts doubled their shot total in the final period, but still were out shot 35 to 28 for the game. Too, many comeback wins of late. They relied on that and it cost them tonight. It's the first time I've seen them play like a team that has clinched. Hope they get over that.