Special teams spark Bolts first win in Eastern Conference Final

Tampa Bay held a 3-1 lead midway through the second period of Game 3 against the Washington Capitals, but momentum in the contest was shifting decidedly toward the Caps.
The Lightning scored the first three goals to quiet the Capital One Arena crowd. But Caps fans were right back in it when Brett Connolly scored on a left circle one-timer to get Capitals on the scoreboard.
Soon after, Washington drew a penalty on Ryan Callahan for roughing, further lathering up the crowd. The Caps power play had been dangerous all season, and that success continued into the Eastern Conference Final versus the Bolts, where it converted three of its eight previous attempts in the series. If the Caps could cut the Lightning lead to one, the crowd would be delirious, momentum would be squarely on Washington's side and who knows how Game 3 finishes up.

But the Lightning came up with perhaps its guttiest effort on the penalty kill all season, throwing life and limb in the path of Caps shots to keep them off the scoreboard and preserve the two-goal lead. In particular, Ryan McDonagh was struck by a shot in the hand and could only grip his stick with one hand for over 20 seconds while the puck remained in the zone until the Bolts finally got a clear and McDonagh could get to the bench. McDonagh's focus never shifted while on the ice in extreme pain, however. His job was to get in shooting lanes, and that's what he continued to do, injured hand and all, until his shift was up.
Moments after that penalty kill, Brayden Point was first to a loose puck in the left circle in the Caps zone and fired through traffic past Braden Holtby to re-establish the Lightning's three-goal lead, a dagger goal that Washington never recovered from.
But it was the work of the penalty kill - a unit that went 3-for-3 and held Washington without a power-play goal for only the third time this postseason -- that stemmed the Caps' momentum in Game 3 and might have been the key to Tampa Bay earning its first victory in the Eastern Conference Final.

"That can be a difference maker in the game, and for us it was because the penalty kill was excellent last night," said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who became Tampa Bay's all-time power-play scoring leader with a power-play goal and assist in Game 3. "Special teams are just going to get more and more under the microscope. You probably get less and less chances as the playoffs go on. We've seen that trend. You want to take advantage, and we took advantage of the special teams yesterday."
The Lightning penalty kill had another significant moment early in Game 1 with no score yet in the contest. Anton Stralman boarded Tom Wilson and was sent to the box for two minutes. The resulting power play produced little for the Capitals, and that seemed to spark the Bolts, who would score the game's opening goal a couple minutes later when Stamkos ripped a one-timer from his desired spot in the left circle.
"We understand that we have a lot of success when we take care of the puck and check 200 feet of the ice," Lightning forward J.T. Miller said. "If you're doing that, if you're playing with the puck in the offensive zone, you can draw penalties and they kind of go hand in hand. That's what happened last night. On our first power-play goal, we had a good shift in their end and they were there for like a minute straight and drew a penalty at the end and we were able to capitalize on it. I think if you can control the play and play smart, you'll get your power play looks and fortunately we've been able to take advantage of most of them so far."
By no means was the penalty kill the only special teams unit to step up for Tampa Bay in Game 3. The power play was a difference maker too, scoring on its first two opportunities to put the Bolts in the lead 2-0 and change the direction of the game.

On the first power-play goal, Victor Hedman, working the point, swung the puck to Stamkos in his wheelhouse, and the captain delivered with an unstoppable, rocket of a shot to the upper far post. On the second, Hedman swung the puck to the other side for Nikita Kucherov, who used a screen to one-time a puck from the right circle past Holtby at the near post.
When both Stamkos and Kucherov are clicking in their respective circles, it's near impossible for the opposition to take both away.
It becomes a pick your poison situation.
In Game 3, both options were lethal to the Caps.
"When (Stamkos) shoots it like that, he's done it for so long, scored so many goals from there, I think it's hard to cover him when you have Kuch on the other side doing the same thing for the most part," Miller said. "So it's definitely a threat our power play possesses and those two are shooting well right now. You just try to get them the puck and take advantage of the shots that they get."
Those two power-play goals, combined with the perfect penalty kill, gave the Lightning the lift they needed to get back in the Eastern Conference Final and make it a series.
"When those opportunities come on the power play like it did last game and we were able to come through, that just kind of gives confidence throughout your whole lineup," McDonagh said. "Every guy is playing in situations, 5-on-5, penalty killing, it just helps you go out and execute a little bit better."