T.J. Oshie’s turning point fight, Richard Panik stays hot and the Caps get physical

The Capitals opened round-robin play with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, putting them in third place of the round-robin standings. Washington rallied from a 2-0 deficit and was the better team in the third period and overtime, but they walk away with only the single point.

Check out a recap of the game here.

Observations from the loss

It's still early

The team that played the first half of this game wasn't very good, but the team that played the second half was much better. A lot of that was just getting back into game rhythm so it's still too soon to tell how good this team really is yet. Are they the team that blew through the first half of the season or the team that looked like they couldn't beat anyone from January to March?

Physical play is key to this team's identity

When the Caps began to get more physical, the game turned around. At its core, Washington is a physical team. A 2-0 game turned around because of a fight in the second period (more on that later). This is how they are successful and this is how they will need to continue to play.

Holtby looks completely different

Braden Holtby looks like a completely new goalie from the one that could not even manage a .900 save percentage in the regular season. He made a number of difficult saves and, critically, he made a number of those saves without giving up any rebounds. Rebound control has always been a strength of Holtby's so to see him swallow up shots without giving up any second or third chance opportunities is a good sign.

Holtby was always going to be key to the team's playoff success, but that is even more true without the safety net of Ilya Samsonov as a backup. This was a good game for Holtby and a good sign for Washington.

What to make of the power play

Not counting the nine-second power play the Caps had at the end of overtime, Washington had three opportunities with the extra man. The first two looked about as bad as any we have seen this season. The third looked very good and resulted in a goal. I hope the third power play was the result of adjustments made on the first two efforts and not just a result of a talented team getting a token goal.

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Turning point

The Caps were down 2-0 and looked like they were headed for a lackadaisical loss until T.J. Oshie dropped the gloves with Yanni Gourde.

Don't mess with Osh. pic.twitter.com/2AVa9iih56
— NBCSports Washington (@NBCSWashington) August 3, 2020

Less than five minutes later, the game was tied at two and the Caps were the better team from then until the shootout.

Play of the game

Midway through the first period, Lars Eller turned the puck over to Brayden Point in the neutral zone. He took it into the offensive zone and handed it off to Nikita Kucherov. Michal Kempny forced him wide, but Kucherov let off an incredible shot to the far corner to beat Holtby. When the defense does its job, the goalie is ready and you are still able to pick your spot and score, that's a dangerous sniper.

Stat of the game

Richard Panik scored Washington's first goal of the game. He has been on a roll even before the pause.

Richard Panik cuts Tampa's lead to 2-1. From Dec. 14 to the conclusion of the season this year, Panik recorded 20 points (7g, 13a) in 36 games. All 20 of his points came at even strength, which was tied for 69th in the NHL.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) August 3, 2020

Also an important stat: the Caps did not give up a single power play to Tampa Bay.

Quote of the game

Brenden Dillon on physical play:

"Yeah, I think that's what we pride ourselves on. When we're playing our best hockey, we're playing physical. When we're playing our best hockey, we have the skill to go with it and the speed as well. Come playoff time, we know we're built for this style of game. We know when we're at our best and playing Caps hockey. We're finishing our checks, we're hard on the forecheck and playing hard in the D zone. I think altogether tonight, we were pretty happy with our performance, but at the end of the day we've got to find a way to get an extra win and keep pushing forward for the next game."

Runner up goes to Pat Maroon who was asked how his legs felt in overtime.

Tossed it out to both Hedman and Maroon how their legs felt at end of a physical game heading in OT #Bolts:

Hedman: "Got better and better as the game went on."

Maroon: "I don't play overtime. I had great legs in overtime actually sitting on the bench."
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) August 3, 2020

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