Surely, the Washington Capitals should be leading Game 6.
They came out on fire, led by Alex Ovechkin, and stayed that way throughout the first period.
Their only problem? Andrei Vasilevskiy and the wall he put up.
This Vasilevskiy save 👀 pic.twitter.com/lfYQS8bwlv
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) May 22, 2018
Vasilevskiy needed to be solid to stop on the Capitals’ onslaught and he was, write down to the final moments of the period and his best save, a sprawling glove-hand effort to stop Evgeny Kuznetsov in his tracks on the doorstep to keep the game tied 1-1.
Fatigued? Vasilevskiy wasn’t showing any of that in the first period.
After two sub .850 outings in Games 1 and 2, Vasilevskiy has stormed back to spark the Lightning to three straight wins behind his strong play.
• Stream here
• Series preview
• Capitals vs. Lightning: Three questions facing each team
• Capitals have to conquer postseason demons one more time
• Lightning ready for a ‘desperate’ Capitals team in Game 6
• Vasilevskiy turns East final around for Lightning
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