Capitals seize control over Lightning in wild 2-second swing
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a whole lot can happen in very little time.
A two-second sequence at the end of the first period of the Lightning-Capitals third-round series brought the Amalie Arena crowd in Tampa to a stunned silence. What appeared to be a game-tying goal from Nikita Kucherov was taken away before Washington capitalized right off the ensuing faceoff and extended its lead to 2-0 before heading to the locker room.
Kucherov’s highlight-reel breakaway tally with 7.1 seconds left was immediately waved off after confusion on a line change resulted in the Lightning having too many men on the ice.
Kucherov's goal was called back because of a Too Many Men penalty. The Bolts clearly had 6 players on the ice. pic.twitter.com/9oKy68eOYE
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) May 12, 2018
As a product of the disallowed goal and subsequent penalty, Washington lined up for a faceoff in Tampa’s zone to the left of Andrei Vasilevskiy and executed a beautiful set play. It was Ovechkin blasting a one-timer to put the Capitals up by two only seconds after the Lightning thought they had evened it up.
A brutal swing for Tampa Bay, but a beautiful one for Ovi and the Caps.
Aye Aye, Captain
Watch the #StanleyCup Playoffs here → https://t.co/pFIKuXQ29V pic.twitter.com/s03cYXDXz0
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) May 12, 2018
The power-play goal was the 55th postseason tally of Ovechkin’s career and, with an assist on Lars Eller’s 4-0 marker in the second period, No. 8 secured his 7th multi-point game of the playoffs — the most he’s had in any single postseason, according to ESPN Stats. He had six multi-point contests in 2009.
It was also Ovechkin’s ninth goal in his last nine games against the Lightning.
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