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Washington Capitals Seek Payback in Tampa

ByMichael Marzzacco|
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) left, celebrates his game-tying goal in the final minute of play during the third period in a game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on March 20, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Tampa Bay beat Washington 5-4. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) left, celebrates his game-tying goal in the final minute of play during the third period in a game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on March 20, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Tampa Bay beat Washington 5-4. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

For the third time in 14 days, the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning will go head-to-head. The Capitals are looking for revenge.

Many people predict the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning to meet again in the Eastern Conference Finals. After an entertaining seven-game series last May, who in the hockey world wouldn’t sign up for this matchup again? These teams finally met late in the season with the playoffs just around the corner. The Lightning won the first meeting 6-3 on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day. Four days later, they met in D.C. After the Capitals rallied to tie the game to force overtime, the Lightning won it on a goal from Victor Hedman.

“I think there’s a little mental edge you can get there. We haven’t found a way to beat them yet. They’ve been two pretty exciting games to play in really,” Capitals right winger T.J. Oshie said.

“Two games where you kind of wish it was already a series and you could play each other two nights later. It’s a great matchup. It’s a fun game to be a part of and it’ll be important for us to try and get a win and take whatever mental edge or piece we can knowing if we accomplish what we want to that there’s a good chance we’re gonna have to go through these guys (again).”

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Since that defeat, the Capitals have played their best hockey of the season. The only exception being the dud two nights after that Lightning game in a loss to the Minnesota Wild. Other than that, the Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes twice, each victory sweeping regular season series against each opponent. The Capitals win over the Hurricanes on Thursday night punched their ticket to the playoffs for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons. It was also their fifth consecutive season making it to the playoffs as well as their fifth straight season recording at least 100 points, the only active team in the NHL with that streak.Per Ted Starkey, the Capitals can clinch the Metropolitan Division if they win three of their final four regular season games.

The Lightning are not only in the playoffs but have already clinched the President’s Trophy with the NHL’s most accumulated points in the regular season. Since their overtime win over the Capitals, the Lightning have gone 2-1 with wins over the Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. Their defeat came at the hands of the St. Louis Blues.

“It’s intense hockey. They play fast hockey as well as we do. Not much time in those games, it’s really fast, it’s playoff hockey,” left wing Jakub Vrana added. “You know, last year we had some history with those guys. It’s a little bit more, I would say, spicy on the ice.”

The Capitals had an optional practice on Friday afternoon in Tampa Bay. Oshie was on the ice for practice after he missed Thursday night’s game due to an illness bug going around in the Capitals locker room. Oshie is tied with Vrana for the second-most goals scored on the Capitals with 23 goals.

The Lightning are led by Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL in points with 121. Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point lead the charge in goals with 41 and 40, respectively. Andrei Vasilvskiy has been stellar all season in between the pipes for the Lighting and fared well in both of his starts against the Capitals this season. Vasilevskiy is 37-9-4 with a 2.36 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

In Washington’s first meeting against the Lighting, Vasilevskiy stopped 31-of-34 for a .912 save percentage. He was even more impressive in the second meeting as he stopped 54 of a Capitals franchise-high 58 shots recorded. That’s a .931 save percentage and exhaustion from facing a lot of shots.

Puck drop on Saturday night is at 7 p.m. You can catch the game locally on NBC Sports Washington or nationally on the NHL Network.

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