Capitals Beat Lightning 3-0; Force Game 7 Wednesday Night

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Jon Sorensen

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 Monday night at Capital One Arena. The Capitals win forces a Game 7 Wednesday night. 

After a scoreless first period, T.J. Oshie would be the first to dent the twine with a power play goal late in the middle frame to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead at the second intermission. Devante Smith Pelly would make it 2-0 midway through the final frame and the Caps would add an empty net goal for the 3-0 win.

STARTERS
Braden Holtby (10-6, 2.29 GAA, .914 sv%) started between the pipes for the Capitals. Andrei Vasilevskiy (11-4, 2.59 GAA, .919 sv%) started in goal for the Lightning. The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs for Game 6:

Forward lines:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly
Stephenson-Beagle-Smith-Pelly
Defensive Pairs:
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Djoos

Scratches: Alex Chiasson, Madison Bowey, Jakub Jerabek, Shane Gersich, Travis Boyd Nathan Walker and Pheonix Copley.

FIRST PERIOD
The first period was a scoreless but raucous affair. The Capitals outshot the Lightning 8-6 for the opening frame. There were no power plays but plenty of physical play.

Brook Orpik and J.T. Miller would drop the gloves with 4:25 left in the period. Both would receive 5-minute majors.

The Capitals won the faceoff battle 53-47% for the first 20 minutes. The Capitals outhit the Lightning 16-9 in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would finally light the lamp with a power play goal from T.J. Oshie at 15:12 of the middle frame. This was the Capitals first power play since the 7:08 mark of the second period of Game 4.

The period would end with the Capitals leading 1-0. The Capitals outshot the Lightning 16-8 for the second period, and led 24-14 after 40 minutes of play.

THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Devante Smith-Pelly at 10:02 of the final frame. The goal was setup by pure huslte. Chandler Stephenson negated an icing call by hustling a puck down, then he ended up feeding Smith-Pelly from below the goal for the score.

T.J. Oshie would add an empty net goal for the 3-0 final.

SHAVINGS

  • T.J. Oshie scored two goals and now has seven goals in the playoffs. In addition, Oshie extended his point streak to four games (2g, 3a).
  • Braden Holtby stopped all 24 shots he faced to record his first shutout of the playoffs. The shutout marked Holtby’s fifth of the postseason, one shy of the franchise record (Olie Kolzig: 6).
  • Devante Smith-Pelly recorded his fourth goal of the postseason. Smith-Pelly is one goal shy of his personal high in the playoffs with five set in 2014 with Montreal.
  • With an assist on Oshie’s goal, Evgeny Kuznetsov has points in nine-straight games (6g, 8a). That ties him with Nicklas Backstrom (2009) for the longest consecutive point streak in the playoffs in franchise history.
  • Nicklas Backstrom recorded two assists, giving him 12 during the playoffs. 
  • Chandler Stephenson recorded his fifth assist of the playoffs.
  • Jay Beagle recorded an assist and led the team with 13 face-off wins on 16 draws (81 percent).
  • Dmitry Orlov led the team with three blocked shots.
  • Tom Wilson and Brooks Orpik each led the team with six hits.
  • The Capitals will play in its 11th #Game7 since the beginning of the 2008 Stanley Cup  Playoffs, the most among all teams in that span.
  • Tonight’s attendance was 18,506, the Capitals 413th consecutive sellout at Capital One Arena.
  • The NHL box score is here.

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

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Let’s go caps!!!!!!

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Game 6️⃣ vibe #ALLCAPS #CapsBolts

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About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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