Tampa Bay Lightning: Top 3 takeaways from win over Capitals

The Tampa Bay Lightning got away with a win over the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Round Robin.

The Tampa Bay Lightning took down the Florida Panthers just a couple days ago by a dominant score of 5-0. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov dominated with two goals of their own, while Luke Schenn added one of his own. The intensity that the Lightning brought needed to be reciprocated in the round-robin games, as the belief that they’re not a playoff team would shine through if they don’t.

Taking on a tough Washington Capitals team to kick off the round-robin proved to be a good place to start their revenge tour. In the regular season, the Lightning went 0-3-0 against the Capitals, getting outscored 12 to 6 in those games. Clearly, the Capitals had their number, and the Lightning had a great chance to get them back.

The Lightning started the game off extremely strong. They out-shot the Capitals 9 to 7 in the first, and they scored the first goal of the game. It came off the stick of Nikita Kucherov at the 12:53 mark.

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They kept that intensity in the round-robin match when they entered the second period, scoring yet another goal to take a 2-0 lead. This time, it was the rookie, Mitchell Stephens, who scored to give the Lightning the extended lead in the first 8 minutes of the second frame.

However, all it took was one goal and the momentum flipped. First, it was Richard Panik for the Capitals, with under 3 minutes left in the second. A poor penalty taken by Brayden Point in the final minute of the period gave the Caps the man advantage late. Evgeny Kuznetsov, with a bit of a lucky bounce, was able to tie the game up at 2.

In the third period, both goalies fought extremely hard to keep the game even. Vasilevskiy made countless big saves in the final frame of regulation, and while Holtby wasn’t as tested, he still came up big from time to time. After three periods of play, the Lightning were outshot 30 to 25, but more specifically, they were outshot by a combined 23 to 16 in periods two and three.

In overtime, the Capitals had strong chances, including a Jakub Vrana breakaway, but between the goaltending of Vasilevskiy and good defensive efforts, they couldn’t convert. Meanwhile, the Lightning controlled the play for the most part but didn’t generate many high-danger chances. It needed a shootout.

While Oshie scored on the Capitals first shot, they couldn’t score on the next two. Meanwhile, the Lightning didn’t convert on their first shot, but Point and Kucherov, for his second of the game, got the goals and the eventual win.

Here are the three takeaways for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their shootout win over the Capitals.

Vezinalevskiy in mid-season form

Andrei Vasilevskiy, a Vezina winner last season and a finalist this season, has looked sensational after these last two games. He came up massive, especially in the third period and overtime. Vasy did give up a couple of goals in the second to allow the Capitals to get back into it. However, he made incredible clutch saves, including a few in tight in the final few minutes of the third.

Vasilevskiy can prove to be the biggest factor in these playoffs for the Lightning, as their defensive zone coverage was shaky outside of the first and gave up several chances right in Vasy’s face. However, he stood tall when needed and made all the saves you’d expect him to make, and then some. If he keeps it up, the Lightning could be the team to beat.

Not getting bullied this time

Last post-season, the Tampa Bay Lightning got swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets. One of the biggest factors was the physicality of the Blue Jackets. They bullied the Lightning forwards and defensemen, and the Lightning did nothing to defend themselves, minus the Kucherov suspension.

They added Patrick Maroon, Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, Luke Schenn, Luke Witkowski, and Zach Bogosian throughout this season, at various points, to address the physicality. The Capitals are a tough team, with the likes of Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin leading the charge there. But the Lightning didn’t back down, and actually threw hits of their own.

Anthony Cirelli stepped up at the end of regulation and stood toe to toe with Wilson as the refs got between them. He actually got involved a lot more than I expected. If players like Cirelli continue to stand up for themselves, while the aforementioned players stick to their games, the Lightning should not deal with the same issues as last postseason.

Aggressive Forecheck

An area that benefited the Lightning, especially early on, was how fast they attacked and pressured the Capitals defenders. Guys like Mitchell Stephens and Yanni Gourde looked excellent in this area.

They forced plenty of turnovers, and with the immense skill their forwards have, such a small aspect of the game like forechecking can make a massive difference in games moving forward. It made a difference against a responsible and smart defensive game like Washington. Imagine if they did this against the inconsistent and shaky Toronto blueline?

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Forechecking isn’t a massive area of impact. But it can pay massive dividends if the Lightning stay committed to it for a full 60 minutes. Tonight, they were, and they were effective throughout. They face Boston on August 5th at 4 pm EST. The Bruins have struggled immensely since the start and the Lightning need to pounce on them early while they try to figure their game out.

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