The set-up: The Tampa Bay Lightning dug themselves into a deep hole in their Eastern Conference final series against the Washington Capitals by dropping the first two games of the series at home by a combined score of 10-4. As the Lightning got set to visit the Verizon Center in D.C for Game 3, they are well aware road teams (in this instance, the Caps) that had taken a 2-0 series lead in the NHL conference finals had gone on to win 18 of 19 previous series. However,Tampa Bay fought its way back in this series with a vastly improved performance and the reward is a chance to even the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night when the Lightning play Game 4 tonight in Washington. All-Stars Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov combined for seven points as the Lightning recorded a 4-2 victory Tuesday in Washington after dropping the first two games of the series at home.

Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay was much tighter defensively, despite allowing 38 shots on goal (Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves, after allowing 10 goals on 62 shots in the series' first two games for a .839 SP). The Lightning also scored twice on the power play to improve to 5-for-12 with the man advantage in the series and extend their streak to eight games with at least one power play score. Head coach Jon Cooper shuffled his top three forward lines for Game 3, putting Ondrej Palat with Kucherov and Stamkos, flipping J.T. Miller to a unit with Anthony Cirelli and Alex KIllorn while moving Yanni Gourde in with Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson. Point has four goals in his last five games and four of his 14 playoff points in the past two contests, while Hedman owns a franchise-record eight-game point streak after scoring once and assisting on two Tuesday.
Washington: Evgeny Kuznetsov finished with 12 shots on net and a goal for the Capitals in Game 3, while linemate Alex Ovechkin did not have a point despite accumulating nine shots.

Center Nicklas Backstrom (13 points, 11 playoff games) skated again Wednesday and could possibly return to the lineup Thursday, after missing the last four contests with a hand injury. Kuznetsov boasts four goals and seven assists during a six-game point streak and owns 20 points overall - six in the series - while Ovechkin scored twice and set up two others in the first two contests against Tampa Bay. Goalie Braden Holtby owns an .899 save percentage in the series, but has stopped 57 of the 60 shots he has faced at even strength (.950) and leads the league with 10 playoffs wins entering Wednesday.
The pick: Washington head coach Barry Trotz told the media his team was "off a little bit" and will be better Thursday. Anyone really confident that that will be the case? I noted in taking Tampa Bay in Game 3 that while the Caps were 7-1 on the road this postseason, they are only a modest 3-3 at home (make that 3-4, now!). What's more, I reminded all that Washington owns a checkered playoff history and the Capitals are 0-2 in their playoff history when winning the first two games of a series on the road, including a loss to Tampa Bay in 2003. Could it be deja vu all over again, here? Here's what the Lightning said about Vezina finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had allowed 10 goals in five periods of hockey during this series, before game 3. "We all have tremendous belief in him, and he's a rock for our team," Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman told reporters. "He's going to be back and be his best. We're not making his job easier by executing our game plan defensively and offensively. The scoring chances are way up compared to the previous series and that's on us, not him." Vasilevskiy went out and made 36 saves on 38 shots. Meanwhile, Washington's Holtby, after stopping 52 of 56 shots in Games 1 and 2 (.929 SP), allowed four goals on just 23 shots (.839 SP) in Game 3. Make Tampa Bay a 10* play.