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Happy dads: Caps beat Lightning 5-2

By Chris Cerullo

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December 14, 2019 9:37 pm

The Caps traveled to Tampa Bay on their annual dad’s and mentor’s trip to take on a familiar foe in the Lightning. Two of the only fifteen Russian netminders in NHL history were also due to do battle.

Nicklas Backstrom got a gift from a Lightning defenseman and potted it to kick things off. Brayden Point tied it up on a power play in the second. Lars Eller kicked the third off with a bang and Garnet Hathaway followed his lead not long after. Jan Rutta brought the Lightning back into the fray before a TJ Oshie wraparound goal.

Tom Wilson empty netter.

Caps beat Lightning 5-2!

  • Even first period for me. I thought the Lightning controlled the start and finish of the frame, but the Caps were the better squad in between. Leaving a road first period with a lead is always a good sign.
  • Ilya Samsonov looked real good, real early. He made five or six absolutely sparkling stops on the way to victory.
  • Anyone else have a conniption when John Carlson looked back to do the slingshot pass, saw a Lightning forward defending said pass, and then made said pass anyway? About as confusing as those Legal Sea Foods commercials.

  • Not a great second for the Caps at five-on-five. They didn’t get scored on and to be fair to them they didn’t exactly give the Lightning much dangerous offense either. It’s just that they seemingly never had the puck and definitely did not challenge Andrei Vasilevskiy.
  • The ice was horrific. That’s to be expected to some extent in Florida, but man the puck was both sticking to the ice and bouncing like a ping pong ball.
  • Whole bunch of power plays handed to the Lightning in the second, one leading to the tying goal. A bunch of them were surefire calls, but I also think Tampa caught a little case of diveitis towards the end of the frame. Cant be putting a team like that on a man advantage five times through forty minutes.
  • Nikita Kucherov took a 100 miles per hour plus blast from John Carlson right off the ankle and foot. He stayed down and went immediately to the home dressing room. I winced immediately upon viewing. That was a flamethrower and Kucherov did not return.

  • What a hell of a start to the third. The Caps jumped out with two goals in the first three minutes of action.
  • Garnet Hathaway‘s dad John gave Alan May one hell of an intermission interview and his son then went and potted a key third period goal not long after. The hockey gods have been kind.
  • The latest episode of The Mandalorian was the best so far. I love that damn show.

Next the Caps head to Columbus to hopefully payback the Blue Jackets for that ugly loss on RMNB’s tenth birthday.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Lightning

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington

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