Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov scored on the power play for the Lightning, and Victor Hedman and Brayden Point added even-strength markers as Tampa Bay doubled up on its goal total from each of the first two games of the series. All four players were named to the 2018 All-Star squad, though Hedman missed the game because of injury.
"We checked," says Lightning coach Jon Cooper of his team's Game 3 performance. "You have to check in this league. When you have a really good team like they do across the way, if you're going to give them open ice to make their plays, that team will kill you, and they did it for two games. We had to check tonight, and it helped it go in our favor tonight."
Coming into Tuesday's Game 3, three of the four Lightning goals in the series had come on the power play. The Bolts won the special teams battle decisively, and they got started early. After killing off Washington's first extra-man opportunity of the game, Tampa Bay took its first 1-0 lead on a power play of its own.
Stamkos drilled a one-timer from the left circle past Caps goalie Braden Holtby at 13:53, staking the Lightning to a lead they would maintain for the remainder of the game.
The game slipped out of reach for Washington in the first few minutes of the middle period. Early in the second, the Lightning doubled down on the power play, getting a Nikita Kucherov one-timer from the right side to make it a 2-0 game at 1:50 of the second. For just the second time in the postseason, the Caps found themselves down more than a goal.
Tampa Bay used that Kucherov tally to generate some sustained momentum, and to add to its advantage. As the Bolts buzzed the Washington zone, Kucherov made a slick play to feed a wide-open Victor Hedman for an easy weak-side strike at 3:37, putting the Caps down three goals for the first time in the postseason.