The Tampa Bay Lightning played a terrible game tonight as they looked very flat in the first two periods but started to come alive in the third. As for the Caps, they dominated play and got on the Bolts early. This was a lopsided game but the officiating was actually decent tonight. The Caps sat on their lead a little towards the end but dominated enough where the comeback was too little too late. With this loss, the Bolts are down 1-0 to the Caps as they get the 1 win they were looking for in Tampa. Let’s take a look at how we got here period by period.

First Period

The Bolts did not get off to the start they wanted as the caps dominated early. The Caps kept the puck in the offensive zone for the majority of the game getting shot after shot after shot. Vasy stood tall though stopping everything the Caps threw at him. The Caps kept pushing and did not let up. Then Michal Kempny got one past Vasy to give the Caps an early 1-0 lead. Things were not looking good for the Bolts as they continued to turn over pucks and could not get any shots on goal. The Bolts would then get a huge opportunity to turn things around as Matt Niskanen was called for holding. The Caps penalty kill stood strong though and completely shut down bolts protecting their 1 goal lead. With just under a min to go Nikita Kucherov broke off in a breakaway and put one past Holtby falling down to tie this game at 1! Or so we thought, the goal was then waved off as the Bolts had too many men on the ice. Things didn’t get better for the bolts either as with seconds left Ovi would blast one right past Vasy to give the Caps a 2-0 lead heading into the second.

Goals: 2-0 Washington

Shots: 9-2 Washington

Second Period

Things didn’t get any better in the second for the Bolts as they continued to turn over pucks and not get any shots on goal. The Caps also continued to dominate 5 on 5 play as they kept getting quality chances. It was Jay Beagle who then tapped one into the back of the net to give the Caps a 3 goal lead. Not much latter Kuch would get called for a weak roughing call and send the Caps to the power play. Lars Eller would make the Bolts pay again as he put one in the back of the net to make it 4-0 Caps. The Bolts continued to play like they did in the first and just looked like they did not care at all. The Caps, on the other hand, were all over the Bolts and held the puck in the offensive zone for most of the period. Kunitz would then get called for hooking sending the Caps right back to the power play. The Bolts finally looked better and successfully killed off the penalty and even got a few close chances shorthanded. Unfortunately this would not last long as the Bolts got right back to their old ways of making bad passes and not being able to enter the zone without losing the puck. The Caps would then head into the final 20 with a 4 goals lead.

Goals: 4-0 Washington

Shots: 25-10 Washington

Third Period

Louis Domingue would come out to start the third for the Bolts as they looked to finally get things going. The Lightning finally showed up to play as they looked much better in the final 20 min of this one. The Bolts started to get some offensive zone time and get some second chances. Alex Chiasson was then called for slashing give the Bolts their second power play chance of the night. The Bolts power play looked so much better as Kucherov slid one right to Stamkos who ripped one right by Holtby to pull the Bolts within one. The Lightning started to look alive as they grabbed a few more offensive chances. The Bolts would head right back to the penalty kill though as Kunitz was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Bolts successfully killed off the penalty though and got right back to work. The Bolts got some huge chances but Holtby was able to keep them out. Alex Chiasson was then sent back to the box as he got 2 for roughing. The Caps were able to kill off the penalty but the Bolts were buzzing. Just a few min later Ondrej Palat sent an absolutely beautiful snipe right past Holtby to pull the Bolts within 2. The Caps started to push back a little but Domingue looked fantastic stopping anything thrown his way. The Bolts got back to their old ways though as they started to get sloppy again keeping Domingue from getting to the Bench. After the Bolts finally controlled the puck Domingue got off for the extra attacker. But it would be too little to late as the Bolts fell to the Caps in the first game of the sires.

Goals: 4-2 Washington

Shots: 32-21 Washington

Three Stars

Up Next and Final Strike

The Bolts played terrible plain and simple. They did not deserve to win this game. They turned over the puck way too many times and could not get into the offensive zone without loosing the puck. The Bolts looked like they just didn’t care out there, Vasy was also not his best letting in a few weak ones. On the bright side the Bolts looked much better in the third. The PP looked good and they were getting second chances in the offensive zone. The Bolts will need the third period team to show up if they want to bounce back in game 2 and come out strong just as they did against Boston.

The Bolts will look to bounce back as they take on the Washington Capitals in game 2 Sunday, May 13th at 8:00 PM (Mother’s Day)