Lightning vs. Capitals: Game 7 prediction

After dropping three straight, the Capitals rallied with a perfect Game 6 to force a Game 7 in Tampa Bay. But can they clinch the Eastern Conference on the road, or will the Lightning be heading back to the Final?

What a series it has been over the last six games, and the Eastern Conference title will come down to one final game in Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay Lightning look to clinch their second Stanley Cup Final appearance in four years, and the Washington Capitals will be looking for their first since 1998 and first in the Alex Ovechkin era. The Vegas Golden Knights await the winner of the Game 7.

After taking the first two games in Tampa Bay, the Capitals dropped three straight and found themselves on the brink of elimination in Game 6, but rallied with their best game of the postseason to force a Game 7 with a 3-0 win on home ice. You’d be hard pressed to find any Capitals player that struggled in Game 6, and as a result the Capitals dominated the game from start to finish.

Braden Holtby needed to have a big game and recorded his fifth career playoff shutout with a 24-save performance, his first since the 2016-17 regular season.

Alex Ovechkin may not have a recorded a point in Game 6, but he dominated the game all night long. He flew around the ice all night laying body checks, knocking pucks loose, and generating offense with his high-tempo play. He was the leader the Capitals needed, and the rest of the team followed. T.J. Oshie broke the ice with a power play goal, and Devante Smith-Pelly ripped the roof off Capital One Arena with a goal set up by a great hustle play from Chandler Stephenson. Oshie iced it with an empty net goal, and the Capitals evened the series at 3-3.

The Capitals crowd was the loudest it’s been in years, and they’re ready to host a game in the Finals if they can get it done on Wednesday

Tampa Bay was beaten by a motivated Capitals team in Game 6, and they need to leave that performance in the rear view mirror and get themselves ready for Game 7. Andrei Vasilevskiy stood on his head all night, but didn’t get much help from the rest of the roster as he was shellacked for the whole 60 minutes. Outside of a few flashes, Tampa was out of the game from the start and couldn’t find a response to the Capitals assault, and let the chance to advance slip away from them.

The Lightning have shown numerous times that they are much better than that, and they’ll need to be in Game 7. If Vasilevskiy can stand tall once again and the offense can show up around him, they have a very good shot at moving on to face Vegas in the Stanley Cup Finals.

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In games like this, it’s rarely about who the better team is, and more about who gets lucky at the right time. Neither goalie is going be easy to beat, and it will take the perfect shot or bounce like it has almost all series. Expect a low scoring affair with 30-plus saves from both goalies, and the Capitals taking the lead on a Lars Eller rebound to go ahead and stay ahead, sending them to a Stanley Cup Finals match up with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Game 7 Prediction: Capitals defeat Lightning 2-1