Lightning vs Capitals Game 5 Preview: Will the Home Team Wake Up?

• Road teams are 4-0 in this series
• Tampa Bay now has 5 road wins this post-season
• The Capitals and Lightning are ranked 1st and 3rd in both Goals For and Goals Against, respectively

Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals takes place Saturday, May 19th at 7:15 pm EST in Tampa Bay, Florida as the Lightning play host to the Washington Capitals.

After storming out of the gate with two big road wins, the Washington Capitals failed to put a stranglehold on the series, losing both games at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn (5th of the playoffs) was the hero of Game 3, scoring what was considered the game-winner 11:57 into the third period on a pretty play from Ondrej Palat and rookie Mikhail Sergachev.

Another rookie, Anthony Cirelli (2nd of the playoffs), iced the game with an empty-netter with just two ticks left on the clock. Dmitry Orlov (2nd) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (10th) scored for the Capitals, while Steven Stamkos (7th) and Brayden Point (7th) also scored for the Lightning.

Opening Odds

Lightning vs Capitals Game 4 Impact Performer

After struggling in the first two games, Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy turned in back-to-back 36-save performances to lead the Lightning to a 2-2 series tie.

It should come as no surprise that Vasilevskiy has shown up when his team needs him the most. The 23-year-old has always been a clutch performer, winning numerous big games since his junior days, with four medals at the international level, one World Championship gold medal, and a 14-9 NHL playoff record.

Road Warriors

Even though both road teams swept so far, Tampa Bay is enters the best-of-three as the favorite. Having momentum on their side and “home-ice advantage” are to thank for that.

But road dominance didn’t just become a story in this series for these two teams. The Lightning and Capitals have identical 10-2 SU records on the road this postseason.

Visitors have certainly received some help from their opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals, though. Home teams have simply tried to do too much in front of their crowd, rather than just doing the little things right and playing loose.

NHL teams have a 21-0 series record when they win the first two road games in the final two rounds of the playoffs.

Capitals started 2-0 but now +145 to win the East after dropping back-to-back games. pic.twitter.com/meXUFmUzsg

— John Ewing (@johnewing) May 18, 2018

If that doesn’t come to an end, Tampa Bay’s home-ice advantage won’t be of any help. Both of these teams are far too talented offensively to provide added opportunities.

Injury Report

After missing the last four games with a hand injury, Washington’s Niklas Backstrom returned to the lineup. Backstrom didn’t collect any points in his return, but expect the star center to look closer to 100% in his second game back. A big game from Backstrom could be just what the Capitals need to win Game 5.

The Prediction

Capitals 4: Lightning 3

Even though this is prime Vasilevskiy time, until the home team plays a smarter, more disciplined hockey game, the road team will continue to prevail.

The Capitals will come out skating hard, getting pucks deep and on net. Their offensive talent is just too deep and dynamic to completely shut down, and while the same can be said for the Lightning, the road team has been sharper thus far.

I suspect Washington will score one early and perhaps another before the end of the first period as Tampa plays too loosely at first. The Lightning will eventually wake up, but it will be too little too late once again for the home team.