{"id":29134,"date":"2018-05-15T23:19:27","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T03:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=29134"},"modified":"2018-05-16T00:26:49","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T04:26:49","slug":"washington-capitals-game-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/05\/15\/washington-capitals-game-three\/","title":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals Unravel As Tampa Bay Lightning Emerge Victorious In Game Three."},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals<\/a>\u00a0unraveled on home\u00a0ice in Game Three of the Eastern Conference\u00a0final, unable to muster the offense needed to top a flurry of offense from the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>\u00a0on home ice. Rather than take a commanding series lead, the Lightning narrowed the gap with a 4-2 win.<\/p>\n

Washington Capitals Unravel In Game Three.<\/h1>\n

Physical Presence\u00a0Key In the First Period of Game Three.<\/h2>\n

The first-period commenced as expected with the Capitals showing dominance. Battling hard along the board’s led to the majority seeing Caps come out on top. It created sustained offensive pressure and precision\u00a0passing in Tampa’s own zone, giving the Capitals a 14-10\u00a0lead in shots.<\/p>\n

However, physical\u00a0play\u00a0defined momentum of the period assisted by Ryan Callahan<\/a> and Tom Wilson<\/a>. Big hits turned\u00a0it around halfway through the period, giving Tampa a few good chances that led to\u00a0 Braden Holtby<\/a>\u00a0making key saves, but led to the goaltender receiving a tripping penalty.<\/p>\n

Both teams have had impressive special teams in this series, but Tampa has been more dangerous, and this continued. Captain Steven Stamkos<\/a> scored the opening goal with just over six minutes left in the period. This made it three goals in three games for the 28-year old. That left the Capitals reeling for the rest of the period<\/p>\n

Lightning Does Strike Twice…in the Second.<\/h2>\n

With two penalties against unlikely culprit forward Lars Eller<\/a>, Tampa took full advantage yet again. First, Russian power forward\u00a0Nikita Kucherov<\/a>\u00a0scored early into the second\u00a0period, firing a blistering slap shot high over the shoulder of Holtby. Then Kucherov showed off his passing ability, finding a wide-open Victor Hedman<\/a>\u00a0cruising through the slot to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Again, the Capitals struggled to deal with Tampa’s speed and the Lightning’s confidence in the offensive zone continued to grow.<\/p>\n

The young side did show some inexperience with this overconfidence. Being aggressive\u00a0in the offensive zone led to an opening for Brett Connolly<\/a> to get Washington on the scoresheet midway through the frame.<\/p>\n

But with the continued hussle\u00a0of Tampa, they replied less than six minutes later.\u00a0Brayden Point<\/a> shrugged off competition to sneak a short sided goal against Holtby. The Capitals breakdown of communication and physical presence was evident.<\/p>\n

Tampa Continued To Dominate In a Heated Final Period<\/h2>\n

Down three goals and running out of time, the Caps did pick up the pace, dramatically increasing the number of pucks they fired on, and at the net, in the third, but\u00a0Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a>\u00a0stayed strong between the pipes.<\/p>\n

It was the kind of performance Lightning fans have come to expect from their number one this season. He was solid when it mattered most and frustrated the Capitals. Something that led to four Capitals seeing the penalty box in quick concession.<\/p>\n

Game Recap.<\/h2>\n

It was only a matter of time before the Lightning\u00a0woke up and\u00a0started to play hockey. Too many penalties conceded by the Capitals led to the home side downfall. The Lightning have managed at least one powerplay goal each game this series, and a 2-5 performance tonight paints the Capitals powerplay in – perhaps – a better light than it deserves.<\/p>\n

At even-strength the Lightning really shone, particularly the newly-formed trio of Kucherov, Ondrej Palat<\/a>, and Tyler Johnson<\/a>.\u00a0 On the opposite end of the ice, Dmitry Orlov<\/a>, Alex Chiasson<\/a>, and Jay Beagle<\/a> were all less than stellar.<\/p>\n

While this may be expected from the Capitals depth players, Orlov has been a standout player this post-season, and they clearly missed his ability to break out of the defensive zone tonight.<\/p>\n

Although still early in the series this is a hard loss for Washington, they will need to find that fire and intensity from the last two games to avoid disappointment.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>