Tampa Bay Lightning Fail to Finish Capitals, Game 7 for Berth Into Stanley Cup Finals Tonight

By  //  May 23, 2018

Tampa 5-2 all time in Game 7, 2-2 in conference final

ABOVE VIDEO: The Washington Capitals forced a deciding game in the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 at Capital One Arena on Monday.

(NHL.com)– The Washington Capitals forced a deciding game in the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 at Capital One Arena on Monday.

Game 7 is tonight right here in the sunshine state.

The winner will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, which begins on Monday. It will start in Tampa Bay if the Lightning win and in Las Vegas if the Capitals win.

T.J. Oshie scored two goals and Devante Smith-Pelly had one, and Braden Holtby made 24 saves for the Capitals, who won at home for the first time in the series. They are 4-5 at home in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and 7-2 on the road.

It was Holtby’s first shutout of the season, regular season included, and the fifth of his NHL playoff career.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves for the Lightning, who won the three previous games, including Games 3 and 4 here. They are 5-2 on the road in the playoffs and 6-3 at home.

Tampa Bay was shut out for the first time this postseason after scoring at least two goals in its first 15 games, including three or more in 11.

ABOVE VIDEO: In 2015 the Lightning went on the road to Madison Square Garden and shutout the New York Rangers in Game 7 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

ABOVE VIDEO: The last time the Capitals had a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals was in 1998. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres in five games, winning three of those games in overtime

GAME 7 NOTES:

The Capitals are 3-7 in Game 7 since 2008 and 4-11 all time, including 1-3 on the road

The Lightning are 5-2 all-time in Game 7, including 2-2 in the conference final, the wins coming in 2004 and 2015

Holtby is the second goalie in Capitals history to have a shutout in a potential elimination game. Semyon Varlamov did it in Game 5 of the 2009 conference quarterfinals against the New York Rangers (4-0)

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Kuznetsov had an assist on Oshie’s first goal to extend his point streak to nine games (six goals, eight assists), tying Backstrom’s Washington playoff record (2009).

The Lightning has reached the ECF three times since the 2010-11 season. They are 1-2 in those games losing to Pittsburgh 2-1, in 2016, and Boston 1-0, in 2011. They defeated the Rangers 2-0, in 2015 to advance to the Stanley cup Finals. All three game 7’s were on the road.

The last time the Capitals had a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals was in 1998. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres in six games, winning three of those games in overtime, including the conference clincher in Game 6 when Joey Juneau followed up a shot by teammate brian Bellows after hall of fame goalie Dominick Hasek failed to cover the puck.

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