The Capitals certainly have their work cut out for them in the Eastern Conference Final. They are facing a Tampa Bay Lightning team that has reached this round three times in the last four years and that has a loaded roster.
If they hope to advance on to the Stanley Cup Final, here are three keys to the series.
1. Winning the goalie duel
On paper, Tampa is better on offense and defense. If they get the better of the goaltending matchup as well then…well, there’s not much left for the Capitals to build on. Washington must have the edge in goaltending if they hope to win.
Fatigue is a definite question mark when it comes to Vasilevskiy. He already admitted midseason he was struggling with it and, while you could certainly argue that seemed to affect Braden Holtby as well, the difference is that Holtby got a chance to rest thanks to Philipp Grubauer.
Holtby played in 54 games in the regular season as compared to Vasilevskiy’s 65. Both goalies have given comparable performances in the playoffs thus far, but the longer this postseason run goes for Vasilevskiy, the more you have to wonder if fatigue will catch up to him again in much the same way it did during the regular season when his numbers plummeted.
Even if fatigue is not a factor, however, Holtby must still find a way to outperform his counterpart. Goaltending can often be a mitigating factor in the playoffs and it needs to be for Washington given how deep the Lightning’s roster is.
By: J.J Regan
https://www.yahoo.com/news/capitals-vs-lightning-preview-3-032546454.html
