Page 21 - ARUBA TODAY

A21
SPORTS Tuesday 15 May 2018

Capitals pull away, beat Lightning 6-2 for 2-0 series lead

By FRED GOODALL ing and Kuznetsov — with Stamkos and Hedman as-
AP Sports Writer assists from Ovechkin and sisted on Point’s goal at
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Alex Eller — delivered on a pow- 7:08 of the first. Stamkos’
Ovechkin and the Wash- er play less than a minute fourth goal in five games
ington Capitals overcame later. gave Tampa Bay its first
a major hurdle by reaching Tampa Bay goaltender An- lead of the series.
the Eastern Conference fi- drei Vasilevskiy was called The Lightning will have to
nal. for tripping Andre Bura- turn the series around on
Just like that, they’re in a kovsky with 10 seconds left the road to return to the
full-on sprint toward the fin- in the period. Kuznetsov Stanley Cup Final for the
ish. scored seven seconds later first time since 2015.
The Capitals scored in the to make it 4-2, the second “We’ll prepare for the
opening minute of the time in the series the Caps toughest game that we’ve
game and twice in the last stunned the Lightning with played all season,” Stam-
1:02 of the second period a power-play goal in the kos said. “It’s gut-check
Sunday night to pull away closing seconds of a pe- time. Let’s see who we re-
to a 6-2 victory over the riod. Ovechkin and Con- ally are.” NOTES: Washing-
Tampa Bay Lightning and a nolly finished the rout with ton’s John Carlson had two
2-0 lead in the East final. third-period goals. Braden assists, giving him 14 points
“It’s huge but it’s not over Holtby stopped 33 of 35 (three goals, 11 assists) this
yet,” Ovechkin said. “We shots to improve to 10-3 this postseason. That’s a club
played hard and played postseason. record by a defenseman
smart. You can see all four “We’ve defended this en- in one playoff year. He
lines doing their job.” tire playoffs up until these had been tied for the most
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars last couple of games, and with Kevin Hatcher (5-7-12,
Eller each had a goal and that’s why we’ve had suc- 1988), Scott Stevens (1-11-
two assists. Ovechkin and cess,” Stamkos said. “We 12, 1988) and himself (5-7-
Tom Wilson had a goal and Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik (44) checks haven’t defended with the 12, 2016). ... Before Sunday
Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) off the
an assist apiece for the puck during the second period of Game 2 of the NHL Eastern same urgency. We’re leav- night, the Lightning had
Caps, who took the first two Conference finals hockey playoff series Sunday, May 13, 2018, ing our goalie out to dry.” won Game 2 of a series
games of the best-of-sev- Ovechkin also had a goal five consecutive times af-
en matchup on the road. ed,” coach Barry Trotz said. cost us,” Tampa Bay coach and an assist in Washing- ter losing Game 1. They’re
Since 1974-75, teams that “They’ve got a lot of resil- Jon Cooper said. ton’s 4-2 victory in Game 1. 4-2 in six previous series
take a 2-0 lead in the con- iency, and they’re having “We’ve just played tenta- Vasilevskiy was pulled from in which they lost Game
ference final or semifinal fun.” tive and a little bit slow. We the opener after facing 25 1, with those series losses
have a series record of 39-2 Game 3 is Tuesday night in didn’t get 113 points by shots in two periods, but coming in the first round
(95.1 percent). Washington. playing that way. We didn’t the Lightning didn’t pin the in 2014 against Montreal
“We didn’t panic. Just The Lightning had the win the first two rounds by loss on him. Instead, they and the 2015 Stanley Cup
stayed to the system and best record in the Eastern playing that way,” Cooper vowed to play harder in Final against Chicago. ...
played the right way,” Conference this season added. “For some reason front of the young goalten- Capitals C Nicklas Back-
Ovechkin said. “We stayed and breezed through the for two games, that’s the der, who finished with 31 strom, who took a shot from
calm and waited for our first rounds of the playoffs way we’ve played.” saves in Game 2. Justin Schultz off his right
opportunities.” against New Jersey and Brayden Point and Steven Tampa Bay benefited early hand in Game 5 of Wash-
Devante Smith-Pelly and Boston. Stamkos had early power- from a couple of question- ington’s second-round se-
Brett Connolly also scored, Little has gone right against play goals for Tampa Bay, able penalties — Wilson for ries against the Penguins,
helping Washington im- the Capitals. which rebounded after fall- goaltender interference missed his third straight
prove to 7-1 on the road “For a team that’s been ing behind on Wilson’s goal and T.J. Oshie for high-stick- game. He took part in the
this postseason. It’s their first used to being able to make 28 seconds into the game. ing Victor Hedman, when morning skate on a limited
visit to the conference final some plays, we sure haven’t Smith-Pelly’s one-timer fin- the Tampa Bay defense- basis and remains day-to-
during Ovechkin’s 13-sea- made them in these two ished an odd-man rush and man actually was struck by day. ... Hedman has a fran-
son career. games. It’s very unchar- made it 2-2 at 2:30 of the the puck — to score twice chise-record, seven-game
“You’re on the road and acteristic of us. That’s the second period. The Caps in just over three minutes point streak (eight assists).
it’s us against them, and difference. They’ve made took control when Eller on the power play for a 2-1 Martin St. Louis had a six-
this group has really bond- plays, we haven’t. And it’s scored with 1:02 remain- lead. game streak in 2004.q