Tampa Bay Lightning fight back to topple Washington Capitals

It may have taken extra time, but the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled off one of their most exciting come-from-behind victories as they defeat the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime.

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a daunting task in front of them tonight. After starting off their 25^th Anniversary Season on a back-to-back against their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, the Bolts had a whole one day off before heading back into the Amalie Arena to do it all over again tonight; this time against the Washington Capitals.

On the outside, it would seem like a simple enough task. It is, what these guys do night in and night out, after all. However, when you take a closer look at the absolute firestorm Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has been on lately, you know…scoring seven goals in two games, the Lightning were in for a tough night.

This theory would be put on full display in the first half of the first period. As the game hit the eight-minute mark, the shots on goal were two apiece. In other words, both the Lightning and the Capitals have done a good job at doing battle away from their respective goaltenders.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Unfortunately, as play continued on the Lightning seemed to find themselves backed against the wall. Everything would take a serious turn for the worse at 16:42 in the first when Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom would strike first blood and give the Caps an early lead. This is not the position the Bolts needed to be in coming into the end of the first period.

Just when fans thought things couldn’t possibly get any more frustrating, less than a minute later, the Lightning would find themselves on the business end of a penalty kill as Yanni Gourde was sent to the sin bin for Slashing against Capitals winger Jakub Vrana.

Unfortunately, it was this Power Play opportunity which allowed the Capitals to extend their lead over the Lightning. This time, it would be Capitals winger T.J. Oshie who would capitalize on the opportunity and put the puck in the back of the net, beating Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Needless to say, this is not the kind of position any team wants to find themselves in when the buzzer sounds to end the first period of play. If the Lightning had any chance of getting back into this game, they would have to come out of the tunnel with a bang and truly ready to bring the fight to the Capitals.

On the bright side, there was a serious shift in the shots on goal disparity in comparison to their encounter with the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at the BB&T Center in Sunrise. Through the first 20 minutes of play, the shots on goal between these two teams would come out at nine apiece.

At the same time, we have to give a certain amount of credit to Andrei Vasilevskiy in the first period. There were plenty of opportunities where things could’ve been much worse had Vasy not come up with the save. Here’s a look at one glaring example.

When the Lightning hit the ice for the second period, you could tell they were ready to get down to business. In fact, it was a mere five minutes into the second period before the tides would turn. Well, at least momentarily.

It would be Alex Killorn who would strike first for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Brayden Point picked up his fourth assist (6^th overall point) of the season as he sent the puck forward to Killorn, who fired off a one-timer and beat Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer top shelf.

Regrettably, the Lightning’s momentum would be short-lived. Just under two minutes after the Killorn goal, the Lightning would find themselves on yet another Penalty Kill as Yanni Gourde was sent to the box for a Delay of Game call on a Faceoff Violation. Needless to say, Lightning fans were just as upset as Gourde was with the call as chants of “Ref, You Suck!” clearly rang out throughout the Arena.

Once again, it would be Capitals forward T.J. Oshie would capitalize on the Power Play opportunity and put the puck in the back of the net. This would once again increase the Capitals lead over the Lightning to two.

Around the 12-minute mark in the second period, things got a little heated once again. Former Lightning forward Brett Connolly would come in with a little bit of a late hit on one of the newest members of the Lightning, Mikhail Sergachev. This would incense Dan Girardi, who would quickly step up to defend his teammate.

Elsewhere on the ice, Lightning forward Cedric Paquette would tangle with Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik. When the penalties would shake out, the Capitals would end up with yet another Power Play. The other Lightning penalty would go to Girardi for Cross-Checking against Brett Connolly.

The good news here is, this time the Lightning was able to kill off the penalty and prevent a player from T.J. Oshie from picking up his third goal of the night. The Capitals had been lethal on the Power Play up until this point, so it is refreshing the team was able to kill one off.

As the time continued to tick off the clock, it seemed as if the Bolts would head back to the locker room with a two-goal deficit. This is clearly not a position the team wants to be in against a team like the Capitals. The Lightning has notoriously been a solid third-period team, but this kind of play is never guaranteed.

Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning had something to say about this. There were less than two minutes left in the period when Lightning forward Chris Kunitz would pick up his first goal as a member of the Bolts. Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman would take a shot from the blueline. Kunitz deftly got his stick on the puck and was able to deflect it past Grubauer to cut the Capitals lead in half.

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Unfortunately, the Lightning would find themselves in one heck of a messy situation at the end of the period. Just 14 seconds shy of the end of the second period, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos would find himself with a one-way ticket to the sin bin for Slashing against Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov.

Obviously, this meant the Lightning would start the third period of play on the Penalty Kill. As we mentioned previously, the Capitals have been absolutely lethal on the Power Play, and this is not a good way for the Bolts to kick off the third period of play.

Once again, there is some good news for Lightning fans. The Bolts were able to control the Capitals play well enough to keep them out of the back of the net and successfully kill the penalty left over from the second period. Then, things took another interesting turn.

At 3:28 in the period, the Capitals would be called for Too Many Men on the Ice; a penalty which would be served by Brett Connolly. The Lightning would have one of the most amazing Power Plays we have ever seen. They were aggressive with the puck and spent almost the entire penalty in the offensive zone making shots on goal. The bad news here, the Lightning weren’t able to solve Grubauer.

The Capitals would eventually kill off the penalty and return to full strength, but by this time the Lightning had gained some much-needed momentum and was set up to forge their way back into this game.

Just past the halfway point in the period, the Lightning would do just that. Nikita Kucherov would race against Capitals defenseman Taylor Chorney towards the net. Chorney would do his best to keep pace, but ultimately, Kucherov would beat him to the net where he was able to fire off a shot at tie things up for the Bolts.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would spend the remainder of the period fighting tooth and nail for every single opportunity. The Bolts truly made the Capitals defense work for every inch in the second half of the third period. For the first time tonight, the Lightning would outshoot the Capitals.

In the third period, the Lightning outshot the Capitals 17-6 for a three-period total of 35-26 Bolts. It was this kind of aggressiveness that propelled the Lightning to overtime, earning them a minimum of one point. Needless to say, if the Lightning showed this kind of aggressiveness in the first two periods, we could be looking at an entirely different game.

The Lightning caught the most amazing break in the overtime period. The Capitals would get called for Too Many Men on the Ice for the second time. This time, the penalty would be served by Ovechkin. Having the man-advantage, not to mention having Ovechkin off the ice was an amazing opportunity.

Needless to say, Lightning fans were on the edge of their seats, more than likely holding their breath for much of the Power Play. The Bolts were showing the same aggression which got them to this point in the game. As the final seconds ticked off the Power Play, the Lightning did the unthinkable.

Nikita Kucherov was able to fire off a shot from the point which ricocheted, ironically enough, off Brayden Point and into the back of the net to give the Tampa Bay Lightning one of the most exciting come-from-behind victories fans have seen in quite some time.

Tonight was a very telling game for the Lightning. Coming into this game, the Washington Capitals seemed like an unstoppable force. In reality, the same would seem to hold true through a good portion of the game, but the Lightning would focus their efforts and really put forward a stellar effort in the third and overtime periods in order to come home with the victory.

Now, the Lightning will actually be able to get some rest. The Bolts have the next two days off before they head into their next daunting task. On Thursday night, the Lightning will take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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As you can imagine, this is going to be another large obstacle in the Lightning’s road to greatness, On the flip side, if tonight’s encounter is any indication of what the Lightning are capable of this season, Thursday night is going to be another nail-biting game for Lightning fans.