The Caps’ first game of the South Florida Rookie Tournament is in the books. The Capitals rookies lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-6. To say the goalies (two for each side) played poorly would be an understatement.
Let’s take a look at the highlights via the Capitals’ and Lightning’ Twitter accounts.
Two minutes into the game, Capitals defenseman Madison Bowey fought Lightning forward Adam Erne.
.@m_bows4 mixing it up a few seconds into the tilt. #SoFlaTourney pic.twitter.com/Bv9M6g4FQ1
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 17, 2016
Scoring was opened two minutes later when Travis Boyd received his first of two assists after forcing a turnover from the Lightning goaltender behind the net. He fed the puck to linemate Jakub Vrana who made no mistake about it.
.@JVranaa capitalizes on a goalie turnover for the first tally of the day. #SoFlaTourney pic.twitter.com/gM1HVuNYw4
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 17, 2016
A little over a minute later, Zach Sanford scored the first of his two goals putting one behind the netminder from in close to make it 2-0.
The Lightning ended up tying the game up at two about halfway through the first period. Their first goal can be seen below.
.@stephens2727 from the circle to get the #Bolts on the board ⚡️ #BoltsTourney pic.twitter.com/0pwklVO9cv
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 17, 2016
Boyd broke the tie at 12:40 of the first period with a beautiful goal. Vrana fed Boyd in the slot, who made a slick toe-drag to get separation from the Lightning defender putting the puck in over the goaltender’s glove.
WOW! What a move by @Tboyd93 3-2 Caps lead. #SoFlaTourney pic.twitter.com/c4U9x1hM6h
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 17, 2016
Free agent John Parker doubled the lead for the Capitals almost midway through the second with a nice wrister on a rush down the right wing.
John Parker provides the Caps 4th goal by way of #BarDownSnipe. #SoFlaTourney pic.twitter.com/u7hIvbEDtf
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 17, 2016
Following a switch in net for both teams at the 10 minute mark of the second (Adam Carlson replaced Vitek Vanecek for the Caps), the Lightning once again battled back to tie the game up on goals from 2016 first round pick Brett Howden and Erne.
Howdy! 🚨@b_howdy21 sneaks one in for his first of the #BoltsTourney. pic.twitter.com/rylfC2gAmg
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 17, 2016
The Capitals would once again regain the lead in the third period off a powerplay goal by Sanford. After some nice movement on the man advantage, Sanford was able to tap in a rebound right at the side of the net. Caps 2016 first round pick Lucas Johansen made the goal happen by throwing the puck toward the net from Ovechkin’s office.
The Lightning then scored three straight goals in the third to take a 7-5 lead. The last of which was scored following a poor breakout pass from Connor Hobbs and an ill-advised neutral zone pinch by Bowey.
.@adamerne73 with the sick feed, @braydenpoint19 right on time. #BoltsTourney pic.twitter.com/pklfhrK07R
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 17, 2016
The final goal of the game was scored following a nice feed from Boyd who hit Vrana streaking to the net. Riley Barber was able to put in the rebound to cut the deficit to one.
The Capitals top forwards, Sanford, Boyd, Vrana and Barber, all looked very good. Sanford scored two goals, and Boyd had a goal and two assists. On defense, Siegenthaler appeared to have a poor game while Bowey’s play was a bit up and down. No defenders made a big impact on the offense side of the rink. The Caps’ second game of the rookie tournament will be played tomorrow, September 18 at 6 p.m. against the host Florida Panthers.
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