Lightning Crashes Verizon Center, Takes First Two Games

During the Versus telecast of tonight's game two between the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, there was a commercial that said something to the effect of "winning the Stanley Cup takes a lifetime, and for some, that's not even long enough."

For the Caps, winning the series has gone from somewhat likely to extremely difficult after losing game two, 3-2, in overtime.  Tampa's winning goal came off the stick of captain Vincent Lacavalier, who converted a two-on-one at 6:19 of overtime with a flick of the puck past a helpless Michal Neuvirth. It was the Lightning captain's second goal of the night, the first coming with less than a minute left in the first period on a wicked slapshot from the point on the power play. He capped the game-winner with a Alex Ovechkin-esque jump into the glass.

In fact, it could be argued that many of the 14 goals that have beaten Neuvirth this playoff year have been the result of a defensive breakdown or deflection off his own player. The latter was true tonight, when Martin St. Louis got credited with a third-period goal after the puck carromed off Mike Green's stick and past Neuvirth at 7:35.

The Caps, therefore, were forced to come back twice. Their first goal came off the stick of Brooks Laich at 14:52 of the second, when the crease crasher scored from in close, leaving the dominant Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson helpless. And at 18:52 of the third, with Neuvirth pulled for an extra attacker, Ovechkin poked the puck into the net with most of his team storming the crease.

The Caps' power play was inept once again, going 0-for-6 tonight after going 0-for-5 in game one. The Lightning boast a tremendous penalty kill, and the Caps' PK has been pretty solid too. But Tampa has two power play goals in this series, and the Caps haven't gotten close to scoring once in that situation.

The Lightning won this game, and put themselves into a grand position to advance to the conference finals, though, because they dominated the third period just as they did in game one. They were outshot, and at times outplayed, but Roloson's saves and a superior game plan outdid the home team. Tampa has looked like a team that seems destined for greatness, going undefeated since falling behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1, in the first round.

The win was Tampa's fifth straight away from the St. Pete Times Forum, where the series resumes on Tuesday night (6:30 p.m., CSN-HD). In order for the Caps to return to Verizon Center and play game five, they must make take a page out of Tampa's playbook and dominate play.  They must shoot more from the so-called "high-traffic areas" near the net and start to put more pressure on Roloson.

It's not a coincidence that so many goals have beaten Neuvirth from in close and somehow found a way to the back of the net. The Caps aren't working hard enough to make those breaks for themselves, and the Lightning are finding ways to score and win games.

Tonight, as they did in game one, the Caps dominated for long stretches but couldn't score. And as the game progressed, they got further and further away from their game plan -- instead of using their momentum to keep up the pressure and try to seize victory. This trend must reverse, or the Caps will bow out of the playoffs prematurely yet again.