It took the Tampa Bay Lightning all of 19 seconds to get themselves into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Washington Capitals.
Yes, the Lightning scored on their first shot on goal as Cedric Paquette took advantage of a neutral-zone giveaway and then some questionable defending by the Capitals in response (and a nifty play by Ryan Callahan).
Tampa has been plagued by slow starts in this series, so getting a goal within the first thirty seconds of the game couldn’t have been scripted much better.
Ondrej Palat scored later in the period to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Both of Tampa’s goals also came 5-on-5, which hasn’t exactly been their strong suit in the Eastern final.
Neither team has won at home in this series, but Tampa took two big steps in the right direction in Game 5.
• Stream here
• Series preview
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• Capitals’ Burakovsky will be Game 5 scratch
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• Capitals confident in ability to continue road advantage vs. Lightning
• Lightning power play, Capitals penalty kill will make or break series
MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck