Bolts by the Bay
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Washington Ovechkins Bring Power Play Might to Challenge Bolts at Home Tonight

By Angelo Resciniti

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“Hey, look a-yonder comin’
Comin’ down that railroad track
It’s the Orange Blossom Special
Bringin’ my Stanley Cup back”
— Ervin T. Rouse and AR (last line)

Maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning power play needs a nickname.

Howzabout “The Orange Blossom Special”?

“Hey talk about a-ramblin’
She’s the fastest train on the line
Talk about a-travellin’
She’s the fastest train on the line
It’s that Orange Blossom Special
Rollin’ down the seaboard line”

Sounds like the Bolts power play to me, roaring down the ice. A nickname would put the special in special teams. So maybe “The Orange Blossom Special” is on the right track. Bad pun, I know.

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Tonight’s match-up between the Bolts and the Washington Ovechkins — I mean Capitals — could serve as a benchmark for just how special
the special teams play for both squads, and the power play and penalty kill units could decide the outcome of the match.

The puck will drop just after 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Amalie Arena as the 18-7-3 Tampa Bay Lighting host the 12-10-4 (and always dangerous) Washington Capitals. The game will be cablecast by Sun Sports and radiocast by WFLA, 970 on the AM dial. No word on whether the Orange Blossom Special will get a live feed as it steams down the east coast of Florida.

The Bolts will be inspired to right the boat after a disappointing 3-1 home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday night. The Capitals will be agitating to finish their current road trip unbeaten after winning against the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Thursday and the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Saturday.

This is the second of three meetings this regular season between the Bolts and Caps. Tampa Bay won, 4-3, on November 1st at home, in a game featuring 66 shots on goal. But tonight’s game might look more like the tightly-checked nail-biter these skaters played last April, late season playoff-bound style, a 1-0 shootout victory for the Bolts. Defense. And special teams.

So just how special are these special teams?

Washington and Tampa Bay are both among the NHL’s top five power play units, the Caps #2 at 28.2% and the Bolts #5 at 22.7%. Even more dramatic, the Capitals rank #1 in power play scoring on the road at 33.3% while the Lightning squad is #3 at home with 27.3%. And snipers Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos are tied at #5 in the NHL with six power play goals apiece. Nicklas Backstrom (#2 in NHL) already has 11 PP assists for the Caps compared to 10 PP assists for TB leader Valtteri Filppula (#5 in NHL). Both of these power plays really are special.

Concomitantly, Tampa Bay (#18 at 80.4%) and Washington (#28 at 75.3%) are not so special on the penalty kill although the Bolts PK is much stronger at home (#7) than on the road. And the Bolts have scored four short-handed goals this season (#4 in the NHL), compared to zero for the Capitals.

In adding power play score percentage to penalty kill percentage, both Tampa Bay (103.1) and Washington (103.5) are above the 100 mark corresponding to elite-level special team performance. Special.

Beyond the special teams, defense and goaltending will be worthy of scrutiny tonight. Coming off Saturday’s lackluster loss to Columbus the Bolts will be seeking a bounce-back performance. Ben Bishop, who gave up the three Washington goals (but stopped 35 shots) in the November 1st victory, has had some tough outings historically against the Caps with a 1-2-1 career record, a 4.14 GAA, and an .884 save percentage. He will be looking to improve on those numbers.

He should face fewer shots tonight, too, as the Bolts have improved their shots allowed per game to 27.0, #2 in the NHL. The Caps are coming off impressively stingy defensive performances in the first two games of this road trip, allowing one goal each match, and look to finish the trip on a strong note against Tampa Bay. Braden Holtby is expected to be in goal with his 2.34 GAA and .916 save percentage, numbers closely comparable to Bishop’s.

Offensively, the Lightning snipers hope to rebound from Saturday’s one-goal performance by taking more shots and making better passes when the shooting lanes close up. The Bolts still lead the NHL in scoring with 98 goals, nine more than Toronto, and rank second in goal differential with +26. Steven Stamkos still leads the offense with his 32 points (16G, 16A). Tyler Johnson (28), Nikita Kucherov (23), Ryan Callahan (22), and Valtteri Filppula (21) give the Bolts five offensive players with more than 20 points. And Ondrej Palat (19) will soon make it six.

Ovechkin leads the Caps in goals with 12 and Backstrom in assists with 20; they are the only two members of the team with more than 20 points. Ovechkin and Backstrom were held without goal in the two road wins; that is the first time in six years the Caps have won two in a row with zero goals from their deadly duo.

Based on the morning skate it appeared Lightning coach Jon Cooper planned to sit Mark Barberio and Jonathan “Cool Hand” Drouin as healthy scratches. The Caps will be without defensemen John Erskine and Mike Green, both injured.

The Lightning hope to rev up “The Orange Blossom Special” tonight and roll down the Capitals’ line. They certainly do not want to fiddle around on the ice and drop two straight at home. So look for the special teams to put the squeeze on Washington and for the Bolts to live up to Ervin T. Rouse’s unintended inspiration.

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