Jay Beagle and the Capitals’ fourth line gave the team a big lift in a Game 6 win on Monday. (Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
TAMPA — Consider the three of them, digging down the ice late Monday night, one in front of the other in front of the other, closing in on the Tampa Bay Lightning net.
Chandler Stephenson, a 24-year-old with 25 career points, led the way, bounding into the back boards to negate an icing call. Next came Jay Beagle, a career fourth-line center, gathering the puck before sending it right back to Stephenson in the middle of the third period. And finally there was Devante Smith-Pelly, a fringe NHL player when this all began seven months ago, trailing the play, receiving Stephenson’s pass in front and one-timing a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy to give the Capitals a two-goal cushion in an eventual 3-0 win.
The NHL playoffs have a way of putting ordinary players at the center of extraordinary moments. It took eight seconds for Stephenson, Beagle and Smith-Pelly to prove that in the Capitals’ season-extending Game 6 victory.
“We’ve been trying to put it on ourselves all playoffs, all year really, to chip in, be offensive,” Beagle said Tuesday at the Capitals’ team hotel in Tampa. “When we do, it takes some of that pressure off the top two lines that are always our goal scorers.”
Secondary scoring is needed for playoff success, as evidenced in Games 5 and 6 of this Eastern Conference finals series between the Capitals and Lightning. The Lightning’s offense runs through stars Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. The Capitals’ through Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom. But the Lightning got two fourth-line goals in a 3-2 victory in Game 5. Then the Capitals used Smith-Pelly’s third-period score to separate themselves Monday and force a decisive Game 7 at Amalie Arena at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
It is improbable that Stephenson, Beagle and Smith-Pelly are each on a playoff roster right now, much less playing together in the same playoff push, much less that they are making critical playoff contributions. But that improbability only heightens the importance. The Capitals need supporting players, from the top of the lineup to the bottom, to chip in a blocked shot or timely clear or, even, a goal.
In Game 7, every little bit will count.
“Huge lift. Not always expected, but they had a great game last night,” Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said Tuesday of the team’s fourth line. “Especially the couple kills that we had, extra hustle plays, second-effort stuff that keep plays alive in the offensive zone.
“They contributed a goal. Gave up some shots maybe in their own zone, but kept everything to the perimeter. Little stuff like that matters. It’s amazing just how important getting the puck an extra four feet to get over a blue line, over a red line, how much that matters.”
Start with Smith-Pelly, waived by the New Jersey Devils last summer, soon signed to a two-way deal by the Capitals and called a “project” by General Manager Brian MacLellan. He was not a lock to make the Capitals’ roster out of training camp. Then he did, bounced to the Capitals’ top line at one point during the season, and has four goals in this playoff run.
Stephenson was waived by the Capitals coming out of training camp and no other team scooped him up. He admitted, then, that there was some “bitterness” to being passed on by 31 teams. He started the season with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, but fixed himself an NHL roster spot in the fall and became a chess piece for Capitals Coach Barry Trotz. In these playoffs alone, he has played left wing, center and right wing, and appeared as a first-, second-, third- and fourth-line forward, using his speed and defensive ability to complement whomever the coaches need him to.
Then there is Beagle, the 32-year-old center who was not drafted into the NHL. He impressed the Capitals at a development camp tryout, and earned an AHL deal that offered little chance of going any further. Now he’s played in 471 games for the Capitals across 10 seasons. His value is not measured in points — 116 and counting — but in his consistency in the faceoff circle, his relentless pursuit of the puck, his red face, dripping in sweat whenever he comes off the ice.
That all led them to those spots in Game 6, Stephenson out-racing Braydon Coburn to the puck, Beagle making the right pass along the boards, Smith-Pelly beating Vasilevskiy before Capital One Arena exploded around the Capitals’ fourth line. Now is the biggest game of each of their careers, bigger than all those October and November nights fighting to stay on the roster, bigger than Game 6, if that even felt possible as they skated Monday night.
And maybe, by Thursday morning, next will come their shot at the Stanley Cup.
“It’s a dream,” Beagle said of having that chance. “As a player, this is why we play.”
More on the Capitals:
‘The biggest game of our life’: Capitals brace for Game 7 vs. Lightning
Svrluga: Game 7 puts Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin in familiar role: Squarely in the spotlight
Boswell: The Capitals’ best chance to shed their demons? Embrace the moment.
Tampa Bay is no stranger to Game 7 in Eastern Conference finals
Bog: Was Caps’ win the greatest in Capital One Arena history? It looked and sounded like it.
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