After taking a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final with two wins on the road, the Washington Capitals have relinquished their strangle hold on the series losing both home games as the Tampa Bay Lightning tie the series at 2-2.
Frustrated, angry, baffled, dishearten, peeved, upset — all of those emotions describe how the Capitals and their fans are feeling after losing Game 4 to the Lightning by the score of 4-2. Alex Ovechkin illustrated the thoughts and emotions of Washington, D.C., as the Capitals’ captain broke his stick in anger across the goal post.
that stick has a family pic.twitter.com/yXm7YWgwoq
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) May 18, 2018
Washington had won the first two games of the series in Tampa inching to two wins away from advancing to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1998. However, the Capitals squandered a great opportunity by getting blown out in Game 3 and allowing a bad penalty and costly turnover to be their downfall in Game 4.
Now, the series shifts back to Tampa all even and with the Lightning having a great deal of momentum. Ovechkin breaking his stick signified the thoughts of the ghosts of the Capitals’ past playoff failures. It appeared all good just a week ago, Washington had everything going on their side, beating their arch nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the second round. They jumped out to the 2-0 series lead on the road, but now everything looks so familiar and now Washington is backed into the corner of a must-win Game 5 back at the Amalie Arena on Saturday.