After winning two on the road, the Washington Capitals have now lost two at home, dropping Game Four – and also the series lead – to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a thoroughly frustrating night.
Dmitry Orlov kicked us off with a monster shot to beat Vasilevskiy high. Brayden Point struck back, exploiting a bad turnover from Michal Kempny, then Steven Stamkos kept Tampa’s power play nuclear hot to give the Bolts the lead after one.
Evgeny Kuznetsov was the hatchet man on a 200-foot play to tie the game in the second period, which the Caps dominated without any further goals.
The Caps kept pressing in the third until Lars Eller got busted for a hook. As time expired on his penalty, Alex Killorn put the puck through Holtby’s five hole to get a lead for the road team that survived to the final buzzer. Cirelli added an empty netter in garbage time.
Bolts beat Caps 4-2. The series is tied 2-2.
- Welp, just like we all predicted, Washington dominated Tampa during 5-on-5 play but struggled during special teams. I mean. Obviously. Everyone saw that coming.
- This whole sequence – from the breakout to the celebration – is precisely what I love about the Caps’ offense. Next-level passes from both Wilson and Ovechkin.
- At 9:16 of the first period, Alex Killorn put a wristshot on net. At 10:11 of the second period, Steven Stamkos put the next shot on net for Tampa. It was a 20-minute lull for Braden Holtby, who was excellent outside of that window. (I can’t believe the Caps lost this. Ugh.)
- At the other end of the ice: Andrei Vasilevskiy. He was a terror for 36 shots.
- Dmitry Orlov has had a tremendous postseason. This goal was a gorgeous highlight, and it would have been so much more special if it hadn’t been spoiled a minute later with Brayden Point’s goal off Michal Kempny‘s ridiculous turnover. John Carlson called for the pass and Kempny obliged, except he skipped the part where you look where you’re passing.
- Nick Backstrom returned from injury and looked pretty good considering his hand looked mighty swollen pregame. Backstrom’s Danish junior, Lars Eller, not so much. Refusing to learn the lesson from last game, Eller took two penalties, each leading to a goal (the latter right after penalty time expired). Add those two penalties to the three he committed last game and Eller’s been total murder for his team this week.
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) May 18, 2018
Gummy bear? They’ve been in my pocket. They’re real warm and soft. of the night
Okay. Welp.
We could look at it as a matter of the Caps blowing a two-game lead at home through an infuriating lack of discipline and an incompetent power play. We could look at it like that. That would not be un-true.
Or we could look at it like this: it’s a new series. The Caps will go back out on the road for a best-of-three. Win two games and you go to the Cup Finals. That sounds doable, and it’s got the added benefit of letting me not think about this game anymore.
Headline photo: Patrick Smith
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