Capitals seek different approach against Vasilevskiy, Lightning in Game 6

TAMPA --Although the Washington Capitals have outshot the Tampa Bay Lightning 175-121 through five games of the Eastern Conference Final, that hasn't turned into many goals thanks to Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

A finalist for the Vezina Trophy, Vasilevskiy is 3-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in his past three games to help the Lightning get within one game of the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa Bay leads the best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 at Capital One Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN1, TVAS).
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Though the Capitals have also had more scoring chances and possession time in the offensive zone, defenseman John Carlson is willing to try a different approach. He hasn't scored in the series despite 23 shots on goal and a fair share of chances. He said the Capitals must do whatever it takes to get Vasilevskiy out of his comfort zone to extend the series to a Game 7.
"I think, yeah, they're playing a little bit better than they probably did in the first two games," Carlson said. "I think that has something to do with it. [Vasilevskiy's] certainly raised his game. I think we can give him some different looks, some different angles, stuff that we've worked on the whole season.
"I think we're making a lot of good plays, we're getting a lot of good chances. Just that one extra guy here and there is a big difference for a goalie. I think we got to bring that extra guy in to possibly be a rebound option, pass option, just make him think a little bit, make him guess a little bit."

With 10 seconds remaining in the third period of Game 5, Carlson was open in the slot but the pass from center Evgeny Kuznetsov didn't come clean on his stick. Vasilevskiy had enough time to make a sliding shoulder save and preserve a 3-2 Lightning win.
"I was looking for [Kuznetsov] to pass it to me [but] I also had to play the rebound as well," Carlson said. "I just got a little bit closed in my stance, wasn't able to get it off from my back foot there."
Carlson also wants his teammates to shoot and shoot often. That especially goes for forward Alex Ovechkin, who didn't have a shot on goal in Game 5 until 16:22 of the third period.
"He likes to shoot the puck a lot," Carlson said. "The more he has it on his stick, in good shooting positions, the better off our team is. So, yeah, we got to work a little bit better for him.
"I don't watch every single shift of his, but he's got to get to different areas, too. It's a team game. Wherever the shots are coming from, they're coming from. But certainly if there's a choice, he's got a chance to shoot, he should probably be the one shooting."