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| [ PHOTO: USA TODAY ] |
Matthew Paras, The Washington Times
TAMPA — The Capitals could have blamed a lousy call from the referees, or even used Nicklas Backstrom’s hand injury as an excuse. On Sunday, there were plenty of moments when it might have been understandable if Washington had allowed the Tampa Bay Lightning back into the series.
But these Capitals didn’t let up. They didn’t relax. And now, with a 6-2 win in Game 2, they return to the District with a commanding 2-0 series lead — halfway to moving on to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Sunday’s contest turned late in the second period when Lars Eller scored from the slot to put the Capitals up 3-2.
Seconds later, Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was called for tripping forward Andre Burakovsky, and — like Alex Ovechkin’s one-timer in Game 1 — the Capitals took advantage of a penalty with time winding down. This time it was center Evgeny Kuznetsov who fired a shot at the net that deflected off Vasilevskiy and slipped under the goalie and into the net.
