Capitals drop Game 1 to Lightning in our NHL 20 simulation
The Washington Capitals fought but fell short.
The Washington Capitals fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final in our latest NHL 20 simulation after a takedown of the Penguins. 5-2 was the final score thanks to the Bolts striking for four goals in the third period to the delight of the home crowd in Tampa.
It was a highly competitive and clean first period with no score. The Lightning outshot the Caps 8-4 and outhit them 4-2. They also had a 3-2 edge on face-offs despite the Caps leading in time on the attack.
The Caps kept fighting in the second period and despite a couple of blocked shots and a wide open miss from Jakub Vrana, were able to get on the board thanks to Ilya Kovalchuk at 12:50 for his first goal of the spring.
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Kovalchuk got a perfect pass from Radko Gudas on the right side in front of the net and banged the puck in past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
That lead would be short lived, however, as the Lightning tied things up at 17:39. Victor Hedman got a pass from Brayden Point up the middle and beat Braden Holtby.
1-1 would be the score heading into the final period. Shots in the second period were in favor of the Bolts 9-5 and 17-9 with Braden Holtby making 16 saves. The Bolts also had the edge on the face-off circle in the second 7-2 and 10-4 overall up to that point.
In the third, the Lightning struck for four goals beginning with Ondrej Palat at 4:46 to take the lead. The Caps got a power play when former Capital Kevin Shattenkirk was called for tripping but it was short lived when Vrana went to the box for tripping.
The Lightning added to their lead with a goal from Mikhail Sergachev at 9:20 before Tom Wilson got a pass from Lars Eller to pull the Caps closer at 11:44. Dmitry Orlov got the secondary assist. Wilson’s shot came from near the right face-off circle.
The Bolts put the game away with goals from Sergachev at 12:38 and then an empty netter from Nikita Kucherov with 24 seconds left. The four goal barrage came despite the Caps outshooting the Bolts 13-12. The Lightning did better on face-offs 10-5 and 20-9 overall. The Caps were outshot 29-22 overall.
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Can the virtual Caps bounce back against the virtual Bolts in Game 2? Check back here tomorrow to find out!