Lightning strike fast in Recreation 5, take 3-2 lead over Caps

Lightning strike quick in Game 5, take 3-2 lead over Caps

A sterling start to each of the first two periods gave the Tampa Bay Lightning all the push they needed to win Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, defeating the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Saturday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

May 19, 2018; Tampa, FL, USA; Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) lets the puck get by as Tampa Bay Lightning center Cedric Paquette (13) reacts during the first period of game five of the Eastern Conference Final in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time, the Lightning lead the series and take a 3-2 edge into Game 6 on Monday night in Washington.

Cedric Paquette scored 19 seconds into the game and Ryan Callahan scored 33 seconds into the second period for the Lightning, which have won three games in a row.

In between those goals, Ondrej Palat tallied for Tampa Bay, which took a 3-0 lead on the way to winning at home for the first time in the series.

Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots, including 12 of 13 in the third period.

May 19, 2018; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) makes a save against Washington Capitals center Jay Beagle (83) during the second period in game five of the Eastern Conference Final in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Washington goalie Braden Holtby made 19 saves, facing only four shots in the final period.

The Capitals didn’t go away because Evgeny Kuznetsov notched his 11th goal of the postseason 4:21 into the second period. Kuznetsov has scored in all three games in Tampa in the series.

After pulling Holtby for an extra skater, Alex Ovechkin scored with 1:36 to play, but the Capitals couldn’t find a way to pull even. Ovechkin has 11 goals in the playoffs this spring.

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Earlier, Paquette’s goal was six seconds away from being the quickest goal at the start of a postseason game in Tampa Bay franchise history. That came from Adam Hall in 2013.

Paquette had no resistance as he charged toward the net for the game’s opening score.

Palat’s goal came in transition as he appeared to have a difficult path for the puck to make it to the net, but he shortly fired a shot after crossing the blue line and Holtby couldn’t make the stop.

Callahan’s goal came with some traffic around the net.

This was the first time in the series that Steven Stamkos didn’t score for the Lightning.

—Field Level Media

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Sports

May 26, 2018