Bolts by the Bay
Fansided

Tampa Bay Lightning fall against the Capitals in final regular season home game

ByLane Fahey|
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 30: Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning gives up a goal against T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals during the first period at Amalie Arena on March 30, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 30: Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning gives up a goal against T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals during the first period at Amalie Arena on March 30, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the Washington Capitals in the finale of three showdowns over the span of two weeks. as well as the Lightning’s final home game of the season.

In what was the Lightning’s final regular-season home game, the team received the President’s Trophy and Steven Stamkos was presented a silver stick for most goals in franchise history. This is the first President’s Trophy in Tampa Bay Lightning history.

The Caps started out hot and seemed to dominate the rest of the game. The Bolts had a pretty slow start coming off a four-day break this week. At the end of the first period, the Bolts were down 3-0 with a mere four shots on goal.

Towards the end of the first, defenseman Victor Hedman and Capitals forward Carl Hagelin collided and hit heads. Hedman was not on the bench for the start of the second period and did not return to the game.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning

In the second period, the Bolts finally scored with J.T. Miller‘s 13th of the season. However, with two goals from Nicklas Backstrom and two from T.J. Oshie, the Bolts were still down 4-1.

The first two periods did not seem to have the same physical intensity that this matchup has shown this season. However, the third period led to some hard hitting and a few punches thrown. One of the fights that broke out was between Washington’s Tom Wilson and Bolts D-man Erik Cernak. After the fight, Cernak immediately went to the locker room with some blood on his face and did not return for the final eight minutes.

Tyler Johnson scored in the first to keep it a two-goal game, but it was too late for the Bolts once Alex Ovechkin scored. Ovechkin scored his 50th and 51st of the season, his eighth time in his career with 50 goals on the year. Nikita Kucherov scored in the final minute on the power play ending the game with a 6-3 final score.

The Lightning begin their final four games on the road against the Ottawa Senators on Monday. The team will then play the Montreal Canadiens the next day, and then the final two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins.

Home/Analysis