The Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 Wednesday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa. With the victory, the Capitals win the Eastern Conference title 4-3, and will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game 1 is set for Monday night in Las Vegas.
After Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring 62 seconds into the first period, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Andre Burakovsky would score a pair of goals in the middle frame to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead at the second intermission. Nicklas Backstrom would add an empty net goal late in the third period for the 4-0 win.
STARTERS
Braden Holtby (11-6, 2.16 GAA, .919 sv%) started between the pipes for the Capitals. Andrei Vasilevskiy (11-5, 2.55 GAA, .920 sv%) started in goal for the Lightning. The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs for Game 7:
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 Capitals opened the scoring with a goal from Alex Ovechkin at 1:02 of the first frame. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson were credited with the assists.
Tom Wilson and Braydon Coburn dropped the gloves midway through the period. Both received five-minutes for fighting.
The period would end with the Capitals hanging on to a 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay led in shots on goal 10-9 for the first 20 minutes. The Capitals had the only power play but were unsuccessful on the man advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would stretch their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Andre Burakovsky at 8:59 of the middle frame.
Andre Burakovsky would do it again with a five-hole goal at 16:31 of the second period. John Carlson was credited with the lone assist.
Tampa Bay outshot Washington 12-6 for the middle frame, and led 22-15 after two periods of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals went into a prevent defense to start the final frame. Tampa Bay didn’t have a shot on goal in the first 12 minutes of the third period. Nicklas Backstrom would add an empy net goal for the 4-0 lead
The Capitals would lock it down for the 4-0 win.
SHAVINGS
- Braden Holtby pitches a shutout for the second straight game.
- The NHL box score is here.
SCENES FROM TAMPA AND THE DISTRICT