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Almost perfect: Caps beat Lightning 4-2!

By Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) on May 11, 2018 | 0 Comment

Consensus underdogs, the Washington Capitals sure as hell didn’t look like it in Game One. The Caps throttled the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring early and often while completely controlling play through two periods. It was a delightful effort, and more than enough to secure a convincing road win.

Michal Kempny scored first, threading the puck through traffic, then Alex Ovechkin got a power-play goal in the last minute of the first period to make it 2-0.

The Caps kept going in the second period, recording a greasy goal from Jay Beagle and a power-play marker from Lars Eller to go 4-0 after two.

The Bolts played much better in the third. Steven Stamkos cracked Holtby’s shutout bid on a power play, and Ondrej Palat beat Holtby high stick-side to make it 4-2. The Caps battened down the hatches after that.

Caps beat Bolts 4-2! Caps lead the series 1-0!

  • The Caps held the Bolts to two shots on goal in the first period, but it costs them eleven blocks, spread evenly among folks like Orlov, Kempny, DSP, and Carlson.
  • Prior to the Jay Beagle goal, Dmitry Orlov positively walked around Steven Stamkos to create the scoring chance. It was Beagle’s first loffs goal since Game One of the CBJ series. Let’s put beagle dot jpeg right here.
  • Good boy.
  • The most entertaining part of the night off-ice by a million miles was ex-Skins D-line Chris Baker, aka “Swaggy”, who seemed to be having an absolute ball at Amalie Arena, named for my second favorite Jean-Pierre Jeunet film after Alien: Resurrection.
  • Nikita Kucherov “scored” at the end of the first period, taking a gorgeous stretch pass and then performing a power move on Orlov to put the puck in the net. Except the only reason Kucherov was open for that pass was because he was not supposed to be on the ice. The goal came back, and the penalty meant a two-goal swing in the Caps’ favor once Ovi scored on the next faceoff. Either way, Kucherov plus space is the recipe for making scary-ass highlight plays.
  • Alex Ovechkin did not score a power-play goal in the Pittsburgh series. His slapper at the tail end of the first period was his first since Game Six of the Jacket series. He has nine goals so far in the postseason, which is fine.
  • With Tom Wilson returned from suspension, which we will never ever discuss ever again, The Ovi-Kuzy-Wilson line was electric, driving play entirely. Ovi and Wilson were instrumental, albeit uncredited on the play in the next bullet.
  • Michael Kempny had some rough looks at the end of the Pittsburgh series, and I worry his otherwise low-key play might have folks overlooking his contributions since joining the team in February. He’s been a very important role player, and maybe his first-period goal, the first of his career, will garner him some well-earned attention.
  • It looked to me like Cooper strongly matched the Point line and McDonagh-Stralman pairing against the Ovi line. It did not appear to work.
  • Tom Wilson’s penchant for attracting drama did not wane during his time off. Chris Kunitz yanked Wilson’s helmet off during a third-period scrum and throttled Wilson’s head. A well-earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for Kunitz.

  • Surrendering four goals on 25 shots, Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilekvskiy left the net after forty minutes. Louis Domingue filled in for the final frame. I’m very confident we’ll see Vas back in net on Sunday.
  • Alex Chiasson took two penalties, the latter of which was extra unwise. I wonder if Trotz will consider making a change down under the third line for Game Two.
  • Stamkos’ power-play goal in the third was the first shot of the night to beat Braden Holtby, but only eleven shots preceded it.

The Only Bad Thing of the Night

After a few early shifts cautiously feeling out the Bolts, the Caps of Game One looked more like the dominant team we’ve seen over the past few seasons rather than the marginal-but-dangerous Caps of 2017-18. I cannot imagine a more encouraging start to the series.

But the third period taught us never to count the Lightning out. There’s a reason why they’ve been considered the Cup favorites since last summer.

Great, kid, don’t get cocky.

Full Coverage of Game One

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