Stamkos, Lightning facing 'gut check time' in Game 3 against Capitals
Tampa Bay hits road two losses from elimination in Eastern Final
RELATED: [Complete Lightning vs. Capitals series coverage]
He's right about that.
The Lightning didn't prepare for the situation they're in, down 2-0 against the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Final after losing both games at home by a combined score of 10-4, including 6-2 in Game 2 at Amalie Arena on Sunday.
They didn't prepare for the turnovers they've been making, lapses in judgment that have fueled the Capitals' rush game and led to goals against. They didn't think their speed and their forecheck could be neutralized by Washington the way both have been.
No, they didn't prepare for any of this, not after dominating the Boston Bruins in the second round and the New Jersey Devils in the first round, winning each series in five games.
But reality has set in for the Lightning. They're in deep.
Teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in the conference final/semifinals since 1975 have gone on to lose the series 39 of 41 times. The Lightning have won a series after falling behind 2-0 once in their history, coincidentally against the Capitals, but that was 15 years ago and in the first round.
Game 3 is in Washington on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS). It's about as close to a must-win as the Lightning have faced since Game 7 of the conference final in 2016 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They lost that one.
"Let's see who we really are," Stamkos said. "We haven't had to really deal with [adversity] so far in the playoffs. Now we are, so we'll see what type of team we are."
The Lightning still believe they're the team that won four in a row against the Bruins after losing 6-2 in Game 1.
That team was first on puck almost every time, quick to hit the Bruins at every turn, aggressive and fast on the forecheck. That team didn't allow a 5-on-5 goal in the final three games of the series after giving up six in the first two games. That team looked unstoppable.
The Lightning in this series, same personnel and all, have already allowed seven 5-on-5 goals in two games. They have given up a lot of rush chances. They haven't gotten good goaltending. Andrei Vasilevskiy has allowed 10 goals on 62 shots in five periods.
They've been made to look off their game by the Capitals, who are most definitely on.
"We've got to have some urgency and our desperation level has got to go up," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "They've looked like the quicker team pretty much all series, sharper in their plays and just not making mistakes, not making nearly as many mistakes as we are. They're making us pay."
And Tampa Bay is paying at key times.
The Lightning have allowed power play goals in the final 10 seconds of a period twice, to Alex Ovechkin at 19:54 of the first period of Game 1 and to Evgeny Kuznetsov at 19:57 of the second period in Game 2. Each time it gave the Capitals a two-goal lead.
"The big thing is this group has proven that we can play the right way, the way that we need to in order to give ourselves a chance to win a game," McDonagh said. "We've got to rely on that and really look each other in the mirror and look each other in the eye here in the locker room and find a way to raise our game both defensively and offensively."
The Lightning aren't doing nearly enough to make the Capitals pay.
Case in point: J.T. Miller had the puck on his stick deep in the offensive zone during a 4-on-3 rush with the Capitals changing early in the second period Sunday. He didn't shoot. He didn't pass. He turned it over and the Capitals went on a 2-on-1 rush.
Devante Smith-Pelly scored to tie the game at 2-2 with 17:10 remaining.
"That's where the game swung," Jon Cooper said. "We were up 2-1 and it ended up 2-2. If you do something with that rush it goes 3-1, who knows where that game goes after that. So that's where it changed."
The Capitals were up 4-2 by the end of the second period on goals at 18:58 by Lars Eller, who was open in the slot because defenseman Anton Stralman lost an edge and fell down behind the net, and by Kuznetsov on the power play, a shot out of the corner that went in off McDonagh's stick.
"We have so much more in us and we're just not getting it out for whatever reason," Stralman said. "They're a good team. They play great, play structured and they take it to us. We're just not there, especially defensively. You don't win any playoff games giving up six goals."
You don't win games period when you play the way the Lightning have against Washington.
"It's just as a group we're not [making plays]," Cooper said. "If there is one thing I can sit here and say about these two games it's we just played tentative and a little bit slow. We didn't get 113 points by playing that way. We didn't win the first two rounds by playing that way. These first two games, that's the way we've played."
So what now?
"We can't be sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves now," Stamkos said. "We have to go in to their rink and find a way to win a hockey game."
