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!
Chris Kunitz rips Tom Wilson's helmet off in a very painful manner. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/ty9WPAvmm6
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) May 12, 2018
The #OhNoWhatHaveIDoneToDeserveThisOfTheNight pic.twitter.com/dDNj0OhuiF
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) May 12, 2018
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.
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