For the first time since the Eastern Conference Finals, the two best teams in the east go head to head.
Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning. The reigning Stanley Cup champions vs. the team that both finished first in the east last season and leads the pack at the top of the Eastern Conference once again this year. It is sure to be an epic Saturday night showdown and Stars and Sticks has you covered with a preview for tonight’s game as well as a look back.
The Capitals come into this game winners of eight of their last nine and have played their best hockey to date. Todd Reirden has seemed to press the right buttons on lineups. All four lines are jelling. The defense and penalty kill has improved. For a team that has played throughout the year with a target on their back, they are loaded for not only the playoff push but these very important late-regular season matchups.
The Capitals are coming off a Thursday night win over the Flyers to give them 91 points (42-22-7), two points ahead of the second-place Islanders. The Lightning beat the Red Wings 5-4 in Detroit on Thursday. They are the first and, so far, only team that has clinched a spot in the 2019 playoffs. They lead the Atlantic with 112 points (54-13-4), a whopping 19 points ahead of the Bruins.
In that contest against the Red Wings, Steven Stamkos made Lightning history by tying legend Vincent Lecavalier for the most goals in Lightning history. Lecavalier helped lead the Bolts to their only Stanley Cup back in 2004. The Bolts also got goals from Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, as well as a pair from Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov had a four-point night. Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 23-of-27 in the victory for a .852 save percentage.
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The Capitals defeated the Flyers 5-2 at Wells Fargo Center in the second game of their four-game trip, rebounding from a loss in Pittsburgh two nights prior. Brett Connolly got a pair of goals in the win and Lars Eller and Tom Wilson added goals of their own. Braden Holtby got the win in Philadelphia, his second against the Flyers in eight nights, for a .917 save percentage.
These two foes know each other quite well but it’s been a minute since they last played. In fact, it came in May during the Eastern Conference Finals. It was on this ice that saw the Capitals silence the crowd with a goal from Alex Ovechkin 62 seconds in, added by two goals by Andre Burakovsky, a 4-0 win that saw Holtby pitch his second straight shutout.
That night wouldn’t have been possible without the 3-0 shoutout the Capitals had in Game 6 to save their season. The Capitals won Games 6 and 7 by a touchdown and an extra point but were staring at a 3-2 series hole. Even stranger, Washington won the first two games on the road in that series before dropping the next three. So in games that have mattered, the Capitals won three of four in Tampa last season. That road success shows that the Capitals can win here. They’ll look to draw on that past success confidence Saturday night.
Get your popcorn and beverage ready. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.