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Down 2-0 and heading on the road, the Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in a less than ideal situation against the Washington Capitals.
In this edition of the hotstove we discuss whether the Lightning can/will make it a series, and perhaps even win it, or if they'll be put away in relatively short order.
Todd Cordell
Despite controlling the matchups, and facing a Capitals team missing their best two-way player in Nicklas Backstrom, the Lightning were somehow out-chanced 52-36 and out-scored 7-1 at 5v5 over the first two games. They were completely out-classed.
I expect that to change moving forward.
For one, Andrei Vasilevskiy will be better. The guy is a Vezina finalist. Maybe he overachieved a little, but he's much better than his .838 series save percentage would indicate.
I also think the Lightning have way too much speed and skill to be bottled up through the neutral zone like they have been so far. They're going to figure things out and make adjustments. They're too good not to.
At this point winning the series may be a lot to ask. Either way, I still think the Lightning will push it to six or seven games and make things interesting.
Mark Paul
The Lightning have proven that they can fall behind in a series and come back and win multiple games in a row. Losing 6-2 to the Bruins in game one of the second round then turning around and winning four straight proves this team knows how to deal with adversity. This series isn't over. You're silly for believing it is.
Tampa will be much more focused on the road, and will come into Washington for game three and make sure they leave with the series at 2-1. The Capitals don't have the depth to beat Tampa Bay in four straight or even four of five.
While it hasn't hurt them yet, not having Nicklas Backstrom will begin to take it's toll on the Capitals. It's hard not to root for Ovechkin, as he's so fun to watch when he's winning. His emotion is incredibly refreshing and I hope this series isn't the end of the Caps run.
Peter Tessier
They can but it won’t be easy. Something has to click for the Bolts and they need more than scoring goals too. Vasilevsky has to play better and the Bolts have to push the Capitals into making some mistakes. It won’t be easy because the Capitals are playing like the weight of the world is off their shoulders.
This is not an easy situation for the Bolts but they can overcome the 2 game deficit but they’ll need more than luck.
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