This contest marked the return of Mike Green to the lineup
after having missed a week to an ankle sprain suffered against the Pittsburgh
Penguins on Halloween night. Green would
get a chance to skate on the power play for the Caps early as Lightning
defenseman Victor Hedman was sent off for high sticking just 33 seconds into
the contest. The Caps converted the
early opportunity, and it was Green lighting the lamp. Nicklas Backstrom started the play by winning
a draw to goalie Anders Lindback’s left, pulling the puck back to Alex
Ovechkin. The Caps winger wristed a shot
toward the Lightning net that hit a body in front and skittered to the right
wing corner. Backstrom was first to the
puck and walked the puck up the right wing wall. When challenged, Backstrom slid the puck over
to Green at the top of the offensive zone, and Green’s one timer sailed through
a maze of bodies and past Lindback to open the scoring at 1:02.
Fifteen minutes later, Mike Ribeiro netted his fourth of the
season and second in as many contests.
It was a case of catching the Lightning in a missed communication
between their defensemen. Dmitry Orlov
chipped the puck out of the corner to the left of goalie Michal Neuvirth in the
Caps’ end. Matt Carle tried to keep the
puck in, but had it bounce over his stick onto that of Marcus Johansson. The trouble for the Lightning was that Carle’s
partner – Brian Lee – was caught below the top of the left wing circle, giving
Ribeiro a chance to dart through the middle and join Johansson on a break. Johansson carried the puck in on the left
side, and as he reached the top of the circles slowed just for an instant to
suggest a shot. Lindback squared up to
him, giving Johansson the chance to slip the puck to Ribeiro for the tap-in
that gave the Caps a 2-0 lead that they would take to the first intermission.
The second period started much like the first period
started. The Caps were awarded an early
power play – Ryan Malone going off at 4:18 for cross-checking – and the Caps
converted when Brooks Laich poked home a rebound of a Mike Ribeiro shot at
4:43.
The Lightning got back into it mid-way through the period
when Caps goalie Michal Neuvirth lost track of shot from Brett Connolly that
pinballed off of legs in front of the crease.
The puck laid at the left post, but Neuvirth was at the other side of
the crease. Before he could lunge and cover
the puck, Teddy Purcell poked it over the goal line to bring the Lightning to
within two at 3-1.
The Lightning appeared to cut the deficit to one barely a
minute after the Purcell goal. With Troy
Brouwer off for holding, Steven Stamkos was set up for a one-timer on a pass
from Martin St. Louis. Stamkos’ shot
handcuffed Neuvirth and popped over the goaltender’s left shoulder. The puck appeared to land on edge on the goal
line, and Neuvirth dove to cover it. The
referee signaled a goal, but the play went to video review. The verdict from the war room in Toronto was
that the entire puck did not completely cross the goal line, and the goal was
disallowed.
The disallowed goal would loom large later in the period
when Lightning defenseman Matt Carle was sent off for tripping at 15:37. Less than a minute into the power play, Nicklas
Backstrom swatted a rebound of a Mike Green shot past Lindback, and the Caps
had a 4-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Caps played cautious hockey in the third period, keeping
the Lightning from generating any momentum through the neutral zone and
avoiding any odd-man rushes against. It
made for a relatively easy period for Neuvirth in goal, despite the fact that
he faced 12 shots in the period. The
last of those shots, however, found the back of the net when B.J. Crombeen
deflected a shot by defenseman Victor Hedman through Neuvirth’s pads at
17:55. The Lightning pulled Lindback for
an extra attacker with 90 seconds left, but they could not manage a shot on
goal with the 6-on-5 advantage. It was
enough for the Caps to wrap up a 4-2 decision and maintain their lead over the
Carolina Hurricanes in the Southeast.
Notes… The two-goal decision broke a six-game streak for the
Caps in which each game was decided by one goal… Mike Green celebrated his
return with a three-point night (1-2-3); it was the most points he recorded in
a game since going 2-2-4 in a 7-1 win over Detroit on October 22, 2011…
Capitals 4 - Lightning 2
Capitals 4 - Lightning 2
