As unbelievable as it may seem, we are fast approaching the five-year anniversary of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win. To celebrate, over the next two months we’re going to be taking you on a journey back in time to that magical run – reliving every game, five years to the day from when it was first played.
So strap in for the ups and downs, highs and lows, all leading up to a celebration of the greatest moment in franchise history.
Follow along with all of our “Five Years Ago Today…” recaps here.
The Series:
Eastern Conference Round 3 – Capitals (1) vs. Lightning (1); Caps lead 1-0
The Setting:
May 13, 2018 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
Game in a Nutshell:
After jumping out to a 1-0 series lead, the Caps went into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final basically playing with house money. If you can go in as the road team and earn a split to start the series, that’s a success. Anything more than that? Gravy. Icing. Whatever topping analogy you want to go with, that’s what another win would be – especially since the Caps were still without Nicklas Backstrom.
So it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Caps came out a little flat. Apparently this particular Caps team wasn’t interested in going home with anything less than two wins, though (I don’t know, maybe they were nervous about their ability to win at home…for some reason…we’ll get to that).
That certainly seemed to be the case early in this one, as they jumped on the Lightning just 29 seconds in, courtesy of – who else? – Tom Wilson.
Y’all, that is an absolutely disgusting deflection by young Thomas.
Of course, the Bolts didn’t get to the ECF by rolling over, and they got their first chance to make things interesting with – who else? – Tom Wilson sitting for a goalie interference minor. Less than 30 seconds into their man-advantage, Tampa set up in the offensive zone. Stamkos fired the puck from the Ovi spot (copycat), which was nicely blocked by Matt Niskanen…but unfortunately the blocked shot bounced right to Brayden Point, who put the rebound home.
Brayden-on-Braden violence is not cool.
Then things got a little controversial. A few minutes after the Lightning tied the game on one power play, T.J. Oshie was nabbed for a high-sticking minor against Victor Hedman. Only problem? Oshie’s stick was not what hit Hedman in the face. It was a puck. And naturally, because it was a blown call in an important game…the Lightning scored again. Cool cool cool.
So a couple of Lightning power-play strikes had them on top 2-1 after the first period.
Now, it was the Caps’ turn to not go away, and it started with a failed odd-man rush by Tampa’s top line that turned into a three-on-one the other way by the Capitals’…well, not third line.
Just elite celebrations from DSP all postseason long.
Things would stay all square between the two squads until late in the middle frame. First it was Jakub Vrana finding Lars Eller in front of the net (naturally) to give the Caps a lead. Then almost exactly a minute later – with mere seconds remaining on the clock, and the Caps on the power play – this happened:
4-2 Caps. Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.
The third period saw more of the same, all Caps, starting with a two-on-one consisting of Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin in which Kuznetsov pulled out this ridiculous move to set up his captain for the strike. What even.
Remember that talk about cherries and gravy and all of that? That was this Brett Connolly goal, which solidified the rout and sent Tampa fans rushing to the exits.
(But seriously that shot, Conno, wtf.)
By the end, all that was left to do was count down the minutes (and maybe get some extra shots in, because playoffs) and head home.
The road warriors were at it again, and were now 7-1 away from home in the 2018 postseason. The vibes? They were pretty close to immaculate, friends.
So what was going to happen when they returned home? Well…that’s a discussion for another day.
Hmm. Ominous.
Enough ominous storm clouds for now. Let’s leave it on a happy note, shall we?
Condensed Game:
Defining Moment:
Lars Eller with a play in close to break a tie. It’s kind of becoming his Thing.
They Said It:
“[Ovechkin]’s taking out 14 years of frustration on one playoff.” – Jon Cooper
“I like the playoffs. I embrace when the stakes are higher and there’s more on the line. It brings out the best in me.” – Lars Eller
“In past years, we might feel a different way. Maybe [we] had a different aura in the room. This year is just different.” – John Carlson
“It’s little details of the game at this time of the year, and they’ve executed, and we haven’t.” – Steven Stamkos
“We’re excited to be here. We’re excited about what we accomplished. But we’re also excited about the opportunity ahead. I think that so far we’re really taking advantage. We’re excited to play and know what’s at stake, and we’re going after it.” – Matt Niskanen
“I can’t wait to go home and play the game. The fans are going to be all over the place, and we’ve waited for this moment for a long time. It’s going to be pretty cool and pretty special.” – Alex Ovechkin
Additional Reading:
- The Timely Strong Play of Lars Eller [Rink]
- Caps Are All Business in 6-2 Win Over Bolts [Caps]
- #CapsBolts Postgame Notebook: Next Man Up [Caps]
- Capitals score six in win against Lightning in Game 2 [NHL]
- Capitals-Lightning Game 2: Washington crushes Tampa, takes 2-0 series lead back to D.C. [WaPo]
- Capitals proving they belong after Game 2 win against Lightning [NHL]
- What even is going on with the Washington Capitals? [WaPo]
- Stamkos, Lightning facing ‘gut check time’ in Game 3 against Capitals [NHL]
- Capitals hope to ‘take care of business’ in Game 3 against Lightning [NHL]
- In what could be his last run with Capitals, relentless Jay Beagle refuses to yield [WaPo]
- Lightning’s Jon Cooper: ‘We just played tentative … slow’ [ESPN]
- These Stanley Cup playoffs have given the Capitals all they can handle. And they’ve handled it just fine. [WaPo]
- Eller steps up for Capitals in Eastern Final with Backstrom out [NHL]
- Ovechkin enjoying run through first conference final with Capitals [NHL]
- The secret to the Capitals’ playoff success: Alex Ovechkin’s superstitions? [ESPN]
- The Caps and Nats are rolling, and Barry Trotz and Dave Martinez can’t stop texting each other [WaPo]
Coming home 2-0 from Tampa, it’s going to be a sweep, eh? If you can’t say you weren’t worried about the ghost of 2003, you were either too young to remember (or not a Caps fan yet), or lying.
I certainly didn’t expect a sweep. But I could have done with less of what happened next.
The specter of 2003 did loom ominously in my mind, especially after Game 5.