PREMIUM
Rogers' Game 2 Coach's Clinic (Caps @ Lightning) >> *SPECIAL OFFER*
(NHL) Washington vs. Tampa Bay,
Point Spread: 1.50 | -165.00 Washington (Away)
Result: Win
Point Spread: 1.50 | -165.00 Washington (Away)
Result: Win
The set-up: The Washington Capitals own a checkered postseason history but they are playing like a team of destiny since losing the first two games of the their opening round series to Columbus (at home, no less!). The Caps came back to win four in a row against the blue Jackets and then, after losing Game 1 of their second round series at home to the Penguins, a team that had beaten them in NINE of 10 previous playoff series!), the Caps won four of the next five games to take the series in six games (won Games 3and 6 in Pittsburgh). Tampa Bay made headlines in the regular season with its high-scoring offense but the Lightning separated themselves from Boston with physical play, something that carried over from the opening series with New Jersey. Tampa bay won each series in five games. The Capitals limited Tampa Bay to 21 shots (10 total in the first two periods) plus received a goal and an assist from captain Alex Ovechkin, en route to a 4-2 victory in Game 1 on Friday.
Washington: The Capitals haven't been to a conference final since winning the Eastern Conference title in 1998 and while the Lightning have 18 players that have a combined 273 conference final games of experience, the Capitals total is 28 conference final games of experience.That sure didn't seem to matter in Game 1. Will it in Game 2? Ovechkin scored the key goal of the game on the power play with six seconds left in the first period and Washington has now converted with the man advantage in 11 of 13 playoff games, going 15-for-46 overall. The Capitals went 2-for-4 in the power play despite the absence of center Nicklas Backstrom (hand), who continues to work out on his own and is day-to-day, but Trotz told reporters he is optimistic the Swede will play in the series. Evgeny Kuznetsov had a pair of assists Friday to give him 16 points in the playoffs - one behind team leader Ovechkin - and T.J. Oshie set up two goals to become the fifth player on the team to reach 10 points. Goalie Braden Holtby leads the league with nine victories in the playoffs entering Saturday (2.04 GAA and .925 SP) after failing to start the opening two games of the first-round series.
Tampa Bay: Losing Game 1 of a series is nothing new for the Lightning. Tampa Bay has been in this situation before as recently as the last series, when it dropped Game 1 at home to Boston before winning four consecutive games to capture the series in five games. Since Jon Cooper has served as Lightning coach, Tampa Bay has dropped the first game of a series seven times in 11 tries. However, the Lightning have gone on to win four of those series, only losing the 2014 opening round series to Montreal and the 2015 Stanley Cup Final to Chicago. in fact, the Lightning have won five straight Game 2s in the playoffs after losing Game 1. Captain Steven Stamkos scored one of the Lightning's two goals in the third period Friday on the power play and has three in the past four games while right wing Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 13 points in 11 postseason games. Center Cedric Paquette and defenseman Anton Stralman sat out practice Saturday, but Cooper told reporters they both would "all right" for Game 2.
The pick: Tampa Bay's ability to quickly bounce back in a series is well documented (see above) but there seems to be something different about this year's Washington team. "This group is having fun," Washington head coach Barry Trotz told reporters after his team's ninth win in its last 11 contests. "They're calm. They've got a really good work ethic. … When you have a real good group that likes to be around each other and have these moments and play in the playoffs, you don't want those to go away." As for Tampa Bay, the Lightning started the playoffs with solid penalty killing (19-for-23, two against were 5-on-3), but has reverted back to their regular-season form (28th) after giving up six power-play goals in 12 attempts the last four contests. WShat's more, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed four goals in 40 minutes on Friday before being pulled, after yielding five in the previous three games combined. Take the 1 1/2 goals and make Washington an 8* play.
Washington: The Capitals haven't been to a conference final since winning the Eastern Conference title in 1998 and while the Lightning have 18 players that have a combined 273 conference final games of experience, the Capitals total is 28 conference final games of experience.That sure didn't seem to matter in Game 1. Will it in Game 2? Ovechkin scored the key goal of the game on the power play with six seconds left in the first period and Washington has now converted with the man advantage in 11 of 13 playoff games, going 15-for-46 overall. The Capitals went 2-for-4 in the power play despite the absence of center Nicklas Backstrom (hand), who continues to work out on his own and is day-to-day, but Trotz told reporters he is optimistic the Swede will play in the series. Evgeny Kuznetsov had a pair of assists Friday to give him 16 points in the playoffs - one behind team leader Ovechkin - and T.J. Oshie set up two goals to become the fifth player on the team to reach 10 points. Goalie Braden Holtby leads the league with nine victories in the playoffs entering Saturday (2.04 GAA and .925 SP) after failing to start the opening two games of the first-round series.
Tampa Bay: Losing Game 1 of a series is nothing new for the Lightning. Tampa Bay has been in this situation before as recently as the last series, when it dropped Game 1 at home to Boston before winning four consecutive games to capture the series in five games. Since Jon Cooper has served as Lightning coach, Tampa Bay has dropped the first game of a series seven times in 11 tries. However, the Lightning have gone on to win four of those series, only losing the 2014 opening round series to Montreal and the 2015 Stanley Cup Final to Chicago. in fact, the Lightning have won five straight Game 2s in the playoffs after losing Game 1. Captain Steven Stamkos scored one of the Lightning's two goals in the third period Friday on the power play and has three in the past four games while right wing Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 13 points in 11 postseason games. Center Cedric Paquette and defenseman Anton Stralman sat out practice Saturday, but Cooper told reporters they both would "all right" for Game 2.
The pick: Tampa Bay's ability to quickly bounce back in a series is well documented (see above) but there seems to be something different about this year's Washington team. "This group is having fun," Washington head coach Barry Trotz told reporters after his team's ninth win in its last 11 contests. "They're calm. They've got a really good work ethic. … When you have a real good group that likes to be around each other and have these moments and play in the playoffs, you don't want those to go away." As for Tampa Bay, the Lightning started the playoffs with solid penalty killing (19-for-23, two against were 5-on-3), but has reverted back to their regular-season form (28th) after giving up six power-play goals in 12 attempts the last four contests. WShat's more, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed four goals in 40 minutes on Friday before being pulled, after yielding five in the previous three games combined. Take the 1 1/2 goals and make Washington an 8* play.
