#CapsBolts Skate Shavings: Best Of Three

For the third time in as many series in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Capitals find themselves all even after four games. Tonight in Tampa, they'll play Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final series against the Lightning.

Washington won Games 5 and 6 of each of its previous two series with Columbus and Pittsburgh, respectively, and the Lightning has won each of its two Game 5s as well. The Lightning closed out both New Jersey and Boston in Game 5 in its first two series.

Can this familiar position four games into the series benefit the Caps in Saturday's Game 5 against the Bolts?

"Absolutely," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "I think you get more comfortable when you're uncomfortable in these situations. The playoffs, they're a grind, but they're a joy. I mean, if they were easy, you'd never remember them. You remember all the stuff that's hard. I think our guys can dwell on some of the stuff that they had to do that was really hard. It tested them, made them better, made them stronger, made them more prepared. I think our guys are in a good spot for [Saturday]."

Neither of these teams has had its back against the proverbial wall during this postseason, but that will change for one of these squads by night's end. The loser of tonight's Game 5 will be put into a must-win situation when the series returns to he District on Monday.

As was the case in Washington's first series this spring, the road team has won each of the first four games of this series. With a 7-1 record on the road in the playoffs and 12 wins in their last 13 road games dating back to the end of the regular season, the Capitals are hoping for that trend to continue on Saturday in Tampa.

"The series is 2-2 now, and we're just focused on this game," says Caps goalie Braden Holtby. "Whatever happened in the last four games is really irrelevant other than the fact of opportunities to learn and to move forward with. We just put our focus on this game, and put our best foot forward."

Time Is Tight -Largely because they played in several overtime games early in this spring's playoff run, the Capitals have played just a shade under 1,025 minutes of postseason hockey, the most of any of this year's 16 playoff entrants. And largely because their first two series were tight and competitive, the Caps have played 809 minutes and 24 seconds - or a shade over 80 percent of their total playoff time - with the score within one goal, either way.

Tampa Bay has played two fewer games than the Caps, and it has played roughly 227 fewer minutes of high-leverage hockey, with the score even or within just a goal either way.

"We have been playing those kind of games since early on in the Columbus series and into the Pittsburgh series," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "If you watched some of the other games around the league, it's like 5-0 Pittsburgh over Philly, or 6-1 or Vegas had a blowout win, too. I don't think we've really had any of those. It seems like every game we're really had to work, we've really had to stay detailed, we've had to stay focused, and I think that's the hockey that we've been playing all year.

"Our team this year wasn't really a team that could get by based on skill. You have to do the little things right, you have to block shots, you have to chip pucks, you have to execute when you get a chance. We have been battle tested to this point, and that's important in the playoffs. I think going into that overtime game in Pittsburgh [in Game 6], it was our fifth overtime game [in the 2018 playoffs] and [the Pens'] first. For a young team, it's good experience and we've had almost every situation now."

Although the Caps have been in the situation through four games in each of their three series, they arrived there differently each time. They lost the first two games against Columbus, split the first two against Pittsburgh and won the first two against Tampa Bay. They managed to win two of three games without Wilson and three of four without Nicklas Backstrom.

There have only been 23 one-goal games in the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, but the Caps have played in seven of them, more than any other team.

"I think there can be a little bit of comfortability with those tight games," says Caps right wing T.J. Oshie. "You can kind of get used to dealing with your emotions when you're playing in a lot of overtime games, like we did against Columbus. We had a lot more close, one-goal, tight games, at least coming down towards the end of the period against Pittsburgh.

"When you're able to deal with those emotions and the excitement and not over-exert yourselves, but still realize that one goal chances everything or one blocked shot changes everything, I think it definitely gives you a little bit of an advantage. They've got a lot of great players over there, so I don't know how big of an advantage, but at this time of the year, any little piece you can get, you take."

Special Delivery -Washington claimed the first two games of this series here in Tampa, doing so mainly on the strength of a 7-1 advantage in five-on-five scoring. Tampa Bay took the next two games in the District by winning the special teams battle decisively.

Tampa Bay has scored at least one power-play goal in nine straight games and in 12 of 14 overall in the 2018 playoffs. The Caps rank third among all playoff teams with a 28.6% power play success rate, but they went 0-for-7 with the extra man in the two games in Washington.

"We've defended well," says Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "I think we've taken away a lot of the options that they want. But in the end, our goalie has probably been the best guy on the PK. That's the guy you need.

"If I can pick a little bit apart, we could do a little bit better trying to limit their zone entries, because they're getting in pretty easy. You've kind of got to go down a little checklist of who their threats are, and try to keep them to the outside. Limit the touches Oshie gets, limit the touches Ovi gets. And hopefully when they do get the shot, your goalie makes the save."

The Caps have surrendered at least one power-play goal in seven of their last eight games, and their penalty kill success rate has dipped down to a mediocre 73.7%, tied for 11thin the postseason.

"They're obviously making it difficult," noted Holtby of the Lightning power play, on the morning of Game 4. "It's tough because it's moving through a bit of a screen where a guy is going right before they're shooting, so you kind of lose that release. But that was just a coincidence because I know [Nikita] Kucherov had a couple before [Steven] Stamkos' goal in the first [of Game 3] and I had sight line on.

"Everything in goaltending revolves around some sort of sight line. Looking at them, maybe there are some areas where I can lean different ways so I can get a quicker view and I can read those releases. You feel confident in your ability to stop any puck you can, so it's about battling for that sight line and going from there.

"The one area we want to adjust is just limiting it to one option instead of having both. It makes it tricky on everyone when both options are available. You can't anticipate as well, you have to react more. It makes for a little bit of a delay. So, we're going to make some adjustments and I'm going to fight harder for those sight lines. I don't think it's the speed with which he's passing. I'm beating the puck there. It's just beating the sight line there."

Washington either must find a way to neutralize the Tampa Bay power play, rev up its own, or find a way to increase its five-on-five advantage over the Lightning. The Caps went seven straight games without surrendering more than one goal at five-on-five, but the Lightning has struck twice in that situation in each of the last two games. That is making for an unworkable scoreboard equation for Washington, as Cooper laid out after his team's Game 4 win in the District.

"Well, clearly we've needed [power play production], especially when the first couple of games we weren't scoring at five-on-five at all," said Cooper. "So it was all power play. But when the power play keeps clicking and then you are scoring a couple of goals - chipping in at five-on-five - all of a sudden your two goals a game go to four. And when you're scoring that many, it's giving you a better chance to win the game. It's like anything - you start tasting success, you're feeling pretty good about yourself, and you've got the vibe going. That's what they have going right now."

In The Nets -Holtby will be seeking his sixth straight Game 5 victory on Saturday in Tampa. He is 8-3 lifetime in Game 5, with two of his losses coming in overtime. He has permitted just 13 even-strength goals in those 11 Game 5 appearances, and he has fashioned a 1.82 GAA and a .937 save pct. in those games.

Dating back to the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, Holtby has won 11 of his last 13 road starts, limiting the opposition to two or fewer goals in nine of those 13 starts. He has allowed only 21 even-strength goals in those last 13 playoff starts on the road, and he has been nicked for 11 even-strength goals in his eight road starts in 2018.

Holtby is seeking to avoid his first three-game playoff losing streak since April 30-May 4, 2016 when he lost Games 2, 3 and 4 of the Caps' second-round series against Pittsburgh.

Andrei Vasilevskiy will be in goal for the Lightning. He made 36 saves in each of the last two games in Washington against the Caps, limiting them to two goals in each. H has permitted more than three goals in only three of 14 starts this spring, but two of those outings came in the first two games of this series with Washington.

Over the course of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, Vasilevskiy is 10-4 with a 2.63 GAA and a .918 save pct.

All Lined Up -Here is how we expect the Caps and the Lightning to look when they take the ice for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final series on Saturday night at Amalie Arena:

WASHINGTONForwards

8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson

18-Stephenson, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie

13-Vrana, 20-Eller, 10-Connolly

25-Smith-Pelly, 83-Beagle, 39-Chiasson

Defensemen

6-Kempny, 74-Carlson

9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen

44-Orpik, 29-Djoos

Goaltenders

70-Holtby

31-Grubauer

Scratches

1-Copley

22-Bowey

28-Jerabek

39-Chiasson

63-Gersich

72-Boyd

79-Walker

Injured

None

TAMPA BAYForwards

18-Palat, 91-Stamkos, 86-Kucherov

18-Palat, 21-Point, 37-Gourde

17-Killorn, 71-Cirelli, 10-Miller

14-Kunitz, 13-Paquette, 24-Callahan

Defensemen

77-Hedman, 5-Girardi

27-McDonagh, 6-Stralman

55-Coburn, 98-Sergachev

Goaltenders

88-Vasilevskiy

70-Domingue

Scratches

29-Koekkoek

59-Dotchin

62-Sustr

89-Conacher

Injuries

73-Erne (lower body)