*Photo from the Idaho State Journal*
These two teams are in a race. Connor McMichael scored two goals, Rasmus Sandin scored the game winning goal, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 5-3 victory on Thursday night in Tampa Bay.
The Capitals picked up their 3rd straight win and handed the Lightning their 3rd straight loss as they move to 5 points behind the Lightning for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome each had two assists to compliment McMichael's two goals.
McMichael said of the win that "I think we have a high-character group, and we know that. There have been many wins this year where it's just straight character that got it done. I think tonight was another example."
Nicolas Aube-Kubel gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 2:30 into the game on his 6th goal of the season. McMichael made it a 2-0 game on his 11th goal of the season at the 16:19 mark of the first period. Brandon Hagel scored in the second period to cut the Lightning deficit to 2-1 before Anthony Mantha made it 3-1 Capitals after two periods.
Early in the 3rd period, Nick Paul scored 2:42 into the frame to cut the deficit to 3-2. Tyler Motte scored 24 seconds later to even the score 3-3. At the 15:01 mark of the period, Sandin put the Capitals ahead 4-3 on his 3rd goal of the season. McMichael sealed the 5-3 Capitals win with an empty net goal with 1:02 left.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game that "I thought we were just so composed and it played out the way you thought. Even after giving up those two goals quickly, the composure of the bench, our next shift after that, you could just tell it wasn't a team that was rattled and it wasn't a team that was going to let a couple of bad scenarios determine our fate."
Getting the start in goal for the Capitals was Charlie Lindgren, who picked up the win to improve to 12-8-4 in 25 starts. Lindgren stopped 29 of the 32 shots he was tested with by the Lightning, giving him a .906 save percentage.
Starting between the pipes on the other end of the ice was Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was handed the loss as his record is now 19-14-0. Vasilevskiy turned aside 19 out of the 23 shots on goal that the Capitals had, recording a .826 save percentage.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of the 3 game losing streak that "These were games where we had an opportunity to get points and we didn't. This has been a team, the last few months, that has found a way to get points. For whatever reason, we've been a pretty darn good team here at Amalie, and to come away with zero points, especially the playoff battle we're in, is hard to swallow."
Both teams get back in action with road games on Saturday. Vasilevskiy is set to get the start for the Lightning on Saturday afternoon against the New York Islanders, while Lindgren is listed as the starter for the Capitals as they take on the Florida Panthers.
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