Tampa Bay Lightning (56-13-4 116pts) v. Washington Capitals (43-23-7 93pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals head home for their lone matchup at Capital One Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning as they also look to get some revenge from their game last week where the Lightning doubled up the Capitals 6-3. In the first period on a Tampa Bay turnover Carl Hagelin would flip the puck to Lars Eller who would score to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Afterwards the Capitals would draw two penalties, but would not be able to capitalize on either powerplay opportunity.
The second period would not start very well for the Capitals as in the dying seconds of Tom Wilson’s holding penalty, Nakita Kucherov would score to tie the game at one. Then on an Alex Ovechkin elbowing penalty Steven Stamkos would only need four seconds to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead, but it would stop there as the Lighting would get a great drive in the Capitals zone and Anthony Cirelli would throw the puck in the crease and it would hit off of John Carlson’s skate and into the wide open net. However, the Capitals would not let this 2 goal lead deter them as an offensive rush would result in Carl Hagelin roofing the puck to cut the Lightning’s lead to one. The Capitals would then tie the game at three while on the powerplay as TJ Oshie stick to it and battle in front of the net to knock the puck into the net, but then on their third powerplay opportunity, the Lightning would make the Capitals pay as Nikita Kucherov would net his second of the game to give the Lightning their lead back going into the second intermission.
In the third period we would see some solid playoff style hockey from both teams, but it would be the Capitals getting two powerplay opportunities in the first half of the period, however, they would not be able to capitalize on them. Then in the final minute of regulation with Braden Holtby pulled from his net, Evgeny Kuznetsov would score to send the game into overtime.
Then in overtime it would be the Lightning taking advantage of an odd man rush as Victor Hedman would net his 11th of the season to win the game in 5-4 for the Lightning.
Lineups:
Tampa Bay Lightning:
Ondrej Palat — Steven Stamkos — J.T. Miller
Tyler Johnson — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn — Anthony Cirelli — Mathieu Joseph
Adam Erne — Cedric Paquette — Yanni Gourde
Victor Hedman — Mikhail Sergachev
Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn — Jan Rutta
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Ryan Callahan, Danick Martel, Cameron Gaunce
Injured: Dan Girardi (lower body), Anton Stralman (lower body)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Nic Dowd — Chandler Stephenson
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Christian Djoos, Dmitrij Jaskin, Travis Boyd
Injured: None
First Period:
Capitals Goal – 7:32 – Lars Eller (12) from Carl Hagelin (11)
Lightning Penalty – 9:30 – Steven Stamkos 2 minutes for Holding
Lightning Penalty- 16:26 – Jan Ruuta 2 minutes for Tripping
Capitals Penalty – 19:27 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Holding
End of 1st – TB – 0 WAS – 1
Shots 05 15
Faceoffs 11 10
Hits 04 15
PP 0/0 0/2
Second Period:
Lightning PPG – 1:19 – Nikita Kucherov (36) from Steven Stamkos (47) and Victor Hedman (38)
Capitals Penalty – 2:08 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minites for Elbowing
Lightning PPG – 2:12 – Steven Stamkos (37) from JT Miller (27)
Lightning Goal – 6:45 – Anthony Cirelli (16) from Mathieu Joseph (11)
Capitals Goal – 10:30 – Carl Hagelin (5) from Lars Eller (23)
Lightning Penalty – 12:00 – Mikhail Sergachev 2 minutes for Slashing
Capitals PPG – 13:40 – TJ Oshie (22) from Alex Ovechkin (35) and John Carlson (53)
Capitals Penalty – 14:06 – Dmitry Orlov 2 minites for Slashing
Lightning PPG – 15:01 – Nikita Kucherov (37) from Steven Stamkos (48) and Ondrej Palat (24)
Lightning Penalty – 15:42 – Yanni Gourde 5 minute major for Fighting
Capitals Penalty – 15:42 – Jakub Vrana 5 minute major for Fighting
Lightning Penalty – 15:42 – Cedric Paquette 2 minutes for Roughing
Lightning Penalty – 15:42 – Cedric Paquette 2 minutes for Cross Checking
Capitals Penalty – 15:42 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for High Sticking
Lightning Penalty – 15:42 – Mikhail Sergachev 2 minutes for Roughing
Capitals Penalty – 15:42 – TJ Oshie 2 minutes for Roughing
End of 2nd – TB – 4 WAS – 3
Shots 16 37
Faceoffs 24 22
Hits 09 24
PP 3/3 1/4
Third Period:
Lightning Penalty – 1:24 – Ondrej Palat 2 minutes for Slashing
Lightning Penalty – 10:13 – Brayden Point 2 minutes for Slashing
Capitals Goal – 19:07 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (20) from Nicklas Backstrom (51) and TJ Oshie (25)
End of 3rd – TB – 4 WAS – 4
Shots 26 56
Faceoffs 35 33
Hits 14 32
PP 3/3 1/6
OT:
Lightning Goal – 3:01 – Victor Hedman (11) from Yanni Gourde (24)
End of OT – TB – 5 WAS – 4
Shots 29 58
Faceoffs 35 37
Hits 17 34
PP 3/3 1/6
Next Up:
Washington (43-23-8 94pts) v. Minnesota (34-31-9 77pts)
Tampa Bay (57-13-4 118pts) @ Carolina (40-25-7 87pts)
