Washington Capitals: Top 10 rivalry games of all-time

#4 Game 7 at Tampa Bay Lightning 2018

One of the Washington Capitals most underrated rivals is the Tampa Bay Lightning. The teams used to be division rivals in the Southeast Division and had plenty of playoff battles over the years. Unfortunately for the Caps prior to 2018, the Lightning would come out on top in each of them. But 2018 everything changed.

After taking down the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, the Caps were matched up with the Lightning in the third round. The Caps took the first two games on the road before dropping the next three including two at home. With the Caps down 3-2 in the series, they won Game 6 in dominating fashion on home ice to force a Game 7 back in Tampa.

62 seconds into the game, Alex Ovechkin let loose a slapshot from way downtown to give the Caps an early 1-0 lead and help set the tone for the rest of the game. After serving as a healthy scratch earlier in the series, Andre Burakovsky scored twice in the second period. In the third, Nicklas Backstrom put the game away with an empty net goal.

This was a dominating performance that helped the Caps punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals and we all know what happened after that.