WASHINGTON — T.J. Oshie and Devante Smith-Pelly scored, Braden Holtby stopped all 24 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals beat up the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 Monday night to even the Eastern Conference final and force a deciding Game 7.

Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and Brooks Orpik led the charge, throwing their bodies around all night in Game 6. Tampa Bay got 31 saves from goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in another impressive showing but had no answer for Washington’s hit-everything-that-moves approach facing elimination at home.

Game 7 is Wednesday night at Tampa Bay. The winner faces the Vegas Golden Knights, who are in the Stanley Cup final in their first season.

The Capitals outhit the Lightning 39-19 and outshot them 34-24, bruising and battering them all over the ice. Orpik separated Cedric Paquette from the puck twice on one shift, Ovechkin leveled rookie Yanni Gourde and Wilson was his usual self, dishing out a handful of crushing body checks.

With a physical tone set, the Capitals kept testing Vasilevskiy and eventually cracked him. There wasn’t much he could do on Oshie’s second-period power-play goal from the slot after a deft pass from Nicklas Backstrom gave Vasilevskiy little time to adjust for the one-timer.

Drawing a penalty made all the difference for Washington, which hadn’t had a power play since the second period of Game 4. Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn hooked Smith-Pelly to give the Capitals that opportunity, and their penalty kill kept Tampa Bay’s potent power play off the board for just the second time in the series.

Advertisement

With the Lightning pressing and Holtby shining under pressure, the Capitals had chances to go the other way. Smith-Pelly scored Washington’s second goal midway through the third, beating Vasilevskiy after fellow fourth-liners Chandler Stephenson and Jay Beagle did the work on the forecheck to set it up.

As strong as Vasilevskiy was, the physical game took a toll on the Lightning, who weren’t able to muster a comeback. Oshie iced it with an empty-netter in the final minute.

The Lightning missed a chance to close out an opponent for the first time in these playoffs. They eliminated New Jersey and Boston in five games apiece but are now on the brink themselves.

The Capitals improved to 10-2 in the Ovechkin/Backstrom era when facing elimination any time before Game 7. They’re 3-7 in Game 7 over that time.

NOTES

WILD: Paul Fenton was hired as general manager after 20 seasons in the front office with the division rival Nashville Predators.

Advertisement

Fenton, 58, spent the last 12 seasons as assistant GM for the Predators. He helped David Poile, the winningest general manager in NHL history, shape the roster that reached the Stanley Cup final last year and won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best regular-season record for 2017-18. Wild owner Craig Leipold, who once owned the Predators, filled the vacancy created last month when he declined to renew Chuck Fletcher’s contract.

ISLANDERS: Longtime NHL executive Lou Lamoriello is coming to the New York Islanders, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

The person, who sought anonymity because the hiring had not been officially announced, said the deal will likely be completed this week.

It’s not clear whether Lamoriello’s title will be director of hockey operations, general manager or some combination of the two, but it’s expected that he’ll be in charge. It was also uncertain how his hiring would affect current president and general manager Garth Snow, who has four years remaining on his contract.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.