In Rampa Wednesday night, Andre Burakovsky struck twice like lightning in the middle frame to break turn a tight 1-0 lead for the Washington Capitals into a 3-0 lead and effectively take the Tampa Bay Lightning out of the game and out of the Eastern Conference Final in a 4-0 Caps win.
Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots for his second straight shutout of the series to 
eliminate the Lightning.
“I think our group here really understands what it means to be a team and how to win,” Holtby said. “Maybe in the past we’ve had more skill or were better on paper, but this team, everyone knows their role, everyone pitches in, everyone is comfortable with each other. I haven’t been on a team like this where in any situation we’re confident in each other, don’t get down on each other. It’s just a strong group, and that’s really hard to come by, something we’re going to need to have going forward.”
Alex Ovechkin scord in the first period to give the Caps a 1-0 lead that never really felt tenuous.
“I’m emotional right now,” Ovechkin said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
Nicklas Backstrom scored late in the third period to end any doubt.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Backstrom said. “So now we’re in the Final and we’re going to do everything we can do something special here for us, for the team and for the city.”
The Lightning were shutout from the 33-second mark of the second period in Game 5 through the end of Game 7.
“What we did to Boston in [the Eastern Conference Second Round] with our 5-on-5 play and not allowing them to create anything, that’s what happened to us,” the Bolts’ Steven Stamkos said, who did not have a point in the final three games. “Washington did that to us.”
The Capitals now go on to face the Vegas Golden Knights with Games 1 and 2 in Vegas Monday and Wednesday next week.
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Lightning highlights | Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in the loss.
“Just know from personal experience, to get this far you need breaks to go your way. I just felt we pressed and pressed and pressed. They got the breaks they needed. We didn’t. Over a series, they probably earned those breaks because they’ve got a [heck] of a team. Obviously, they gave us everything we could handle and more. I congratulate them,” Tampa head coach Jon Cooper said after the Game 7 loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.