Victor Hedman figured all the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to get back on track was a shift in momentum.
The big defenseman took it upon himself to provide it.
Hedman scored his first goal of the playoffs and added two assists Carter Hutton Jersey , and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 of 38 shots to help the Lightning beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night and cut their series deficit to 2-1. Hedman had the primary assist on power-play goals by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and was a key part of three big penalty kills for Tampa Bay.
r1;Ir17;m put in a position to produce, and I put that pressure on myself to do it,r1; said Hedman, who has a goal and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak. r1;For me, itr17;s about being effective at all ends of the ice and trying to be a difference-maker every time I step on it.r1;
Hedman was dominant all over the ice as Tampa Bay looked like an entirely different team than the one that lost the first two games of the series at home and now has a chance to tie it in Game 4 on Thursday. The Norris Trophy finalist who played a team-high 25:08 was most proud of successful penalty kills.
r1;Her17;s a perennial Norris guy,r1; Stamkos said of Hedman. r1;We canr17;t describe how good he is out there. We rely on him a ton, her17;s a horse and most nights if her17;s going well, wer17;re going well as a team. Another big effort for him tonight, and you could see we all followed suit.r1;
It wasnr17;t perfect, but it was a more complete effort from Tampa Bay, which jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Brett Connolly answered for Washington in the second. Brayden Pointr17;s goal less than five minutes later allowed the Atlantic Division champions to play with a comfortable lead that survived Evgeny Kuznetsovr17;s 6-on-5 goal with 3:02 remaining.
Vasilevskiy was a big part of holding on to the lead as he made seven saves on the penalty kill as part of a bounce-back performance after being criticized for his play earlier in the series. It wasnr17;t perfect, but the Lightning began to make it up to Vasilevskiy for hanging him out to dry on so many odd-man rushes in Games 1 and 2 by improving their defensive-zone play.
r1;We always feel like we owe him,r1; defenseman Anton Stralman said. r1;Her17;s our best player. Her17;s always there, her17;s always there for us and tonight we did a good job in front of him. I think that gives him some confidence, too Danton Heinen Jersey Kids , that he knows wer17;re on and thatr17;s the way it should be.r1;
The Capitals outshot the Lightning 38-23 but didnr17;t help goaltender Braden Holtby with six minor penalties. Holtby allowed four goals but was helpless on the one-timers on the power play by Stamkos and Kucherov r11; the 10th and 11th Tampa Bay power-play goals over a streak of seven games with at least one.
r1;We know both teams have pretty good special teams, and if wer17;re going to play like that, theyr17;re going to use it,r1; said Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who combined with Kuznetsov to put 21 shots on net. r1;Obviously, you can see we didnr17;t score, they scored.r1;
Tampa Bay got two injury scares in the third period when Stamkos hobbled off after taking a slap shot from teammate Braydon Coburn in the right knee and Tyler Johnson was cross-checked by Michal Kempny. Each returned minutes later.
Sporting an ice pack on his right knee, Stamkos said it was just a stinger and that he was fine. He wants the Lightning to be feeling better but not too good still down 2-1.
r1;We havenr17;t done anything yet,r1; Stamkos said. r1;The goal is to win a championship, but you canr17;t look too far ahead. Wer17;ve made it a series.r1;
NOTES: C Lars Eller took three of Washingtonr17;s six penalties. r30; With his 10th career power-play goal, Stamkos tied Martin St. Louis for Tampa Bayr17;s playoff record. r30; Injured C Nicklas Backstrom (right hand) took part in the Capitalsr17; morning skate but missed his fourth consecutive game. Coach Barry Trotz continues to call Backstrom day-to-day. r30; Trotz set a franchise record by coaching his 54th playoff game with Washington.
r12;
After missing the playoffs for the second straight year, and eighth time in the last 11, the New York Islanders head into the offseason with much work to be done.
The most important task is signing captain John Tavares, who is set to be a free agent this summer.
Tavares has said all along he hopes to be back with the only franchise her17;s played for, but doesnr17;t know what will happen. However Cam Talbot Jersey , with the season having ended less than 48 hours ago, he needs to take a breather first.
r1;Take some time to not even think about hockey for a few days,r1; Tavares said Monday. r1;And then prepare for the offseason and training, and obviously the contract will come up here as well.r1;
Tavares, 27, just wrapped up the final year of a six-year, $33 million contract, and would be the top free agent available July 1. The face of the Islanders since they selected him No. 1 overall in the 2009 draft, Tavares had 37 goals and 47 assists this season, finishing a goal and an assist shy of the career highs he set in 2014-15.
r1;This is where I hope to be and Ir17;ve stated that,r1; he said. r1;Just have to take some time and figure out what I want to do.r1;
Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and general manager Garth Snow have both repeatedly said they want Tavares to return, and Snow reiterated that Monday.
r1;We want to be in a situation where he has the Stanley Cup in his hand, wearing an Islanders jersey, and we want him to retire as an Islander,r1; Snow said.
Ledecky read a statement in which he declined to address the futures of any player John Tavares Jersey , or the statuses of Snow and coach Doug Weight, saying the team was r1;committed to long-term success,r1; and defined that as r1;competing every year for the Stanley Cup and eventually winning a fifth ring.r1;
He added: r1;For the past season, as owners we have failed. We sincerely apologize to our fans. We want to express that our ownership group is totally committed to winning and providing the resources to do just that.r1;
The Islanders finished 35-37-10 despite getting off to a strong start in which they won 15 of their first 24 games.
However, injuries to defensemen Calvin de Haan and Johnny Boychuk started them on a tailspin in which they lost 30 of their final 45 games (15-24-6).
There were some bright spots, led by Mathew Barzalr17;s 22 goals and 63 assists that make him the leading candidate for the Calder Trophy as the leaguer17;s top rookie. Also, Anders Lee had the franchiser17;s first 40-goal season since Jason Blake in 2006-07, and Josh Bailey had career bests of 18 goals and 53 assists.
Some other things to know as the Islanders head into the offseason:
IMPROVING THE DEFENSE
Finding a way to improve the defense needs to be the second priority this summer r11; after retaining Tavares. The Islanders finished eighth in the league in scoring with 261 goals, but gave up a league-worst 293. They were also last in shots allowed and penalty-killing,
Nick Leddy had an unseemly minus-42 rating, the leaguer17;s worst since Pittsburghr17;s Rico Fata (minus-46) in 2003-04. Calvin de Haan was lost for the season in December and is also set to be free agent. On the bright side, Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech, both 23, established themselves as solid young defensemen.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier, both 20 Anthony Mantha Jersey , formed a solid second line with Jordan Eberle, 27, combining for 180 points to complement the top line of Lee-Tavares-Bailey (217).
Eberle had 25 goals and 34 assists in his first season in New York, and Beauvillier had a breakout second season in the NHL with 21 goals and 15 assists.
WHOr17;S IN GOAL?
Thomas Greiss is the only goalie signed for next season, with Jaroslav Halak set to be an unrestricted free agent. Greiss dealt with an injury down the stretch and finished 13-8-2 with one shutout and a 3.82 goals-against average.
Halak was 20-26-6 with a shutout and a 3.16 GAA in the final season of a four-year deal. The 32-year-old had a solid first season, going 38-17-4 with a 2.43 GAA in 2014-15, but totaled just 50 wins the last three years.
SNOWr17;S JOB
With the Islanders having made the playoffs just four times in 12 years since Snow was hired as the GM, he was asked if he deserved to stay on the job.
r1;Yeah,r1; he said. r1;When I took over this position it was a situation where it was an all-out rebuild. r30; Now wer17;re in a situation where we feel we can compete for a Stanley Cup.
r1;You can go through the lineup and have a pretty common theme of successful stories of where wer17;ve built through the draft. And I think our prospect pool at this point in time is impressive as well.r1;
HOME AND HOME
The teamr17;s struggles this season were punctuated by losses at Barclays Center, where they were 59-26-16 since moving to the Brooklyn arena before the 2015-16 season.
However, they lost 15 of their final 22 games there to finish with a losing record on home ice for the first time since 2013-14.
Now, the Islanders will be splitting home games between Barclays Center and the Nassau Coliseum r11; their former home r11; for at least the next three seasons until a new arena is built at Belmont Park.
