Morning Playoff Notes (May 22)

No boots necessary on Tuesday morning... we're going to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals!

The Washington Capitals didn't want to let their season end prematurely and who can blame them?  They have already overcome the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2nd round, so why stop there?  The Caps put on a punishing performance, physical from the drop of the puck, out-hitting the Lightning 39-19 on the night, which helped them gain the edge in the more important aspects of the game.

T.J. Oshie scored on the power play in the 2nd period to open up the scoring in the game and the crunch was definitely on, as the Lightning did press, but the Capitals stifled them mightily.  A goal midway through the 3rd period from the Devante Smith-Pelly began to put the game out of reach for the Lightning and then Oshie salted it away with an empty-netter to finish it all off.

Braden Holtby did what he had to do, he needed to stand tall in this one and he did, making 24 saves for his first shutout of the playoffs and a 4-point night in the pool, good for only one team in the pool.  Oshie scored a pair, including the winner for a 3-point night, just fine for his seven selections, while Nicklas Backstrom also chimed in with a couple of assists, which was good for a few teams there too.

Game 7 will go on Wednesday night, a 6pm MT start.

Buddy's team is having the best Conference Finals of the bunch in the pool this year, picking up 46 points through the two series, thus far. Thor isn't too far behind with 44 points from his team and Kristy's team is at 43 points.  Buddy can thank all three notable Capitals from last night's game for his jump up in the standings, having Backstrom, Oshie and Holtby finally paid off in the same game.

Still, Tony's team is surviving just fine.  His team had Oshie's 3 points as well, but he's really hoping for a Lightning win, so he can have both goalies in the Stanley Cup Finals.  His team would be the only one to have both goalies   Tony's lead is now up to 22 points, as his team now sits at 275 with one more game left in the east.