Now Tampa Bay has to find a way to rediscover itself in Sunday’s Game 2 to avoid falling into a hole that might be too deep to climb out of in the quest to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in four seasons.
Washington, meanwhile, looked like a team in control despite participating in the Eastern Conference final for the first time in the Alex Ovechkin era. The Capitals set the tone in the opening game of the best-of-seven series, which they will look to continue Sunday while once again expecting to be withou center Nicklas Backstrom. He has missed the past two games and remains day to day with a hand injury.
“I just think it’s been a real good commitment, attention to detail,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. “All of those things. Just a team-wide commitment. I think we’re playing the full 200 feet that you need to play at playoff time and you’re getting the goaltending you need and you’re getting the commitment and you’re getting the work ethic and you’re getting the discipline and detail.
“All of those things combined, you have a chance every night if you do that.”
The Capitals Tony Wolters Colorado Rockies Jersey , who haven’t been to a conference final since winning the Eastern Conference title in 1998, held the Lightning to 10 shots on goal through the first two periods as they controlled the game while building a four-goal lead.
“I think we just realized we just have to play our way,” said Ovechkin, who had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 4-2 victory. “It doesn’t matter which position we are, which round it is and you can see the effort in the guys. Everybody was all in and everybody was paying the price. … We tried to create a moment on our side and not give them life.”
The Capitals took the Lightning out of the game by not allowing Tampa Bay to utilize its speed on the forecheck, an area the Lightning were oftentimes dominant in the first two rounds against New Jersey and Boston. Instead, Washington slowed down the Tampa Bay attack through the neutral zone and when pucks got in deep the Capitals quickly transitioned the play up the ice.
“They turned pucks up quick http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kentavius-street-jersey , put pucks behind us and dictated the way the game was going to be played,” Lightning forward Chris Kunitz said. “That’s something that we had success doing to other teams. We have to raise our elevation of what we can do out there. But give them a lot of credit, they took Game 1 to us and we have to be better if we are going to be in the series.”
Tampa Bay has been in this situation before as recently as the last series, when it dropped Game 1 at home to Boston before winning four consecutive games to capture the series in five games. And since Jon Cooper has served as Lightning coach, Tampa Bay has dropped the first game of a series seven times in 11 tries. The Lightning went on to win four of those series, only losing the 2014 opening round series to Montreal and the 2015 Stanley Cup Final to Chicago.
In addition, the Lightning have won five consecutive Game 2s when losing the opening game.
“There’s no situation that we probably haven’t been in in the last couple years Kevin Hogan Color Rush Jersey ,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. “This is one we’ve been in before, so we just need to play better. There’s really nothing that we’re going to throw at them that they’re going to be surprised about. We just have to play better and we’re looking forward to that challenge.”
CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers have been hitting home runs and scoring runs at enough of a prodigious clip this month that it is rare to see their bats go quiet.
The Dodgers will enter this week’s three-game series against the Chicago Cubs having won seven of their past 10 games. Before they managed just one run in a loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, the Dodgers had averaged 7.15 runs per game and had hit a major-league best 34 home runs in the first 13 games of June.
Although the Dodgers were unable to finish off a series sweep of the Giants in the first game in their past 13 without at least one homer, manager Dave Roberts doesn’t believe that his team has become too homer-happy.
Instead, the Dodgers managed just four hits on Sunday and scored their lone run on an error and they will be looking to rebound Monday at Wrigley Field in the opener of a three-game series with the Cubs in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series.
“I don’t think we were over-swinging,” Roberts told reporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t think we’re sitting back and just trying to slug. We’re trying to take good swings Albert Wilson Color Rush Jersey , and today the balls didn’t go out of the ballpark.”
Sunday’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak but didn’t in any way diminish the Dodgers’ confidence as they prepare to face the Cubs for the first time since clinching the pennant last fall.
Kenta Maeda will start Monday’s series opener. He is coming off a no-decision in his first start since returning from a hip injury.
Maeda (4-4, 3.61 ERA) had been pitching extremely well before the hip injury on May 29. He had thrown 14 2/3 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts in his two previous starts before the injury.
Maeda threw 76 pitches in his return on June 13 against the Texas Rangers when he allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. He will make his first career start against the Cubs on Monday.
Like the Dodgers, the Cubs were unable to finish off a series sweep of the rival St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night. After scoring 19 runs in the first two games of the series, the Cubs were shut down in a 5-0 loss. But the Cubs have won six of their past 10 games and remain 12 games above .500.
The Cubs will have to wait to know the availability of infielder Javier Baez, who left Sunday’s game with a left elbow contusion after being hit by a pitch. According to the Cubs’ official website, Baez will undergo an X-Ray to confirm there is no further damage.
Baez started Sunday’s game at shortstop in place of Addison Russell.
“(The pitch) got him right in the elbow,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said in an in-game interview with ESPN. “Your hand Cheap Baker Mayfield Jersey , it does feel numb at that particular time. He just could not get the feel back. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but for right now it’s going to hurt all night and maybe into tomorrow.”
Tyler Chatwood (3-5. 4.12) will attempt to get on track Monday against the Dodgers. He is seeking his first win since May 11. In his last outing, he allowed four runs in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Chatwood has struggled with walks all season and has at least four in four of his past five outings. He is 5-9 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 career starts against the Dodgers.
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