The Tampa Bay Lightning won their first round robin game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff Tournament against the Washington Capitals. They needed the shootout but secured a 3-2 win over Washington on Monday afternoon.
The Lightning started the game really well, beginning in the first period when Nikita Kucherov scored at the 12:53 mark of the first period for the first goal of the tournament. In the second period, they added on as Mitchell Stephens scored at the 7:48 mark to make it 2-0.
The Capitals answer came late in the second period as they put a lot of pressure on the Bolts. After Richard Panik scored at the 17:24 mark of the second, the Caps were able to tie the game when Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on the power play at the 19:32 mark of the period to tie the game 2-2.
The Lightning were able to force overtime after Andrei Vasilevskiy came up big throughout the third period to keep the game tied 2-2. All told he finished with 31 saves on 33 attempts to force not just overtime, but also a shootout in this first game of the tournament for both teams.
In the shootout T.J. Oshie scored in the first round to put the pressure on Tampa Bay. From there, however, the Lightning answered. Brayden Point scored in the second round and Nikita Kucherov scored in the third round - while Andrei Vasilevskiy again made the stops - to win the shootout 2-1 and the game 3-2.
The Lightning now look ahead to their next round robin game - this time will be against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday afternoon. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 PM and pregame coverage begins at 3:30 PM on News Radio WFLA.
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