all the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to get back on track was a shift in momentum.The big defenseman took it upon himself to provide it.Hedman scored his first goal of the playoffs and added two assists http://www.minnesotawildteamshops.com/authentic-matt-dumba-j ersey , and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 of 38 shots to help the Lightning beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night and cut their series deficit to 2-1. Hedman had the primary assist on power-play goals by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and was a key part of three big penalty kills for Tampa Bay.¡±I¡¯m put in a position to produce, and I put that pressure on myself to do it,¡± said Hedman, who has a goal and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak. ¡±For me, it¡¯s about being effective at all ends of the ice and trying to be a difference-maker every time I step on it.¡±Hedman was dominant all over the ice as Tampa Bay looked like an entirely different team than the one that lost the first two games of the series at home and now has a chance to tie it in Game 4 on Thursday. The Norris Trophy finalist who played a team-high 25:08 was most proud of successful penalty kills.¡±He¡¯s a perennial Norris guy,¡± Stamkos said of Hedman. ¡±We can¡¯t describe how good he is out there. We rely on him a ton, he¡¯s a horse and most nights if he¡¯s going well, we¡¯re going well as a team. Another big effort for him tonight, and you could see we all followed suit.¡±It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was a more complete effort from Tampa Bay, which jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Brett Connolly answered for Washington in the second. Brayden Point¡¯s goal less than five minutes later allowed the Atlantic Division champions to play with a comfortable lead that survived Evgeny Kuznetsov¡¯s 6-on-5 goal with 3:02 remaining.Vasilevskiy was a big part of holding on to the lead as he made seven saves on the penalty kill as part of a bounce-back performance after being criticized for his play earlier in the series. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but the Lightning began to make it up to Vasilevskiy for hanging him out to dry on so many odd-man rushes in Games 1 and 2 by improving their defensive-zone play.¡±We always feel like we owe him Mikael Granlund Jersey ,¡± defenseman Anton Stralman said. ¡±He¡¯s our best player. He¡¯s always there, he¡¯s always there for us and tonight we did a good job in front of him. I think that gives him some confidence, too, that he knows we¡¯re on and that¡¯s the way it should be.¡±The Capitals outshot the Lightning 38-23 but didn¡¯t help goaltender Braden Holtby with six minor penalties. Holtby allowed four goals but was helpless on the one-timers on the power play by Stamkos and Kucherov ¨C the 10th and 11th Tampa Bay power-play goals over a streak of seven games with at least one.¡±We know both teams have pretty good special teams, and if we¡¯re going to play like that, they¡¯re going to use it,¡± said Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who combined with Kuznetsov to put 21 shots on net. ¡±Obviously, you can see we didn¡¯t score, they scored.¡±Tampa Bay got two injury scares in the third period when Stamkos hobbled off after taking a slap shot from teammate Braydon Coburn in the right knee and Tyler Johnson was cross-checked by Michal Kempny. Each returned minutes later.Sporting an ice pack on his right knee, Stamkos said it was just a stinger and that he was fine. He wants the Lightning to be feeling better but not too good still down 2-1.¡±We haven¡¯t done anything yet,¡± Stamkos said. ¡±The goal is to win a championship Youth Mikko Koivu Jersey , but you can¡¯t look too far ahead. We¡¯ve made it a series.¡±NOTES: C Lars Eller took three of Washington¡¯s six penalties. ¡­ With his 10th career power-play goal, Stamkos tied Martin St. Louis for Tampa Bay¡¯s playoff record. ¡­ Injured C Nicklas Backstrom (right hand) took part in the Capitals¡¯ morning skate but missed his fourth consecutive game. Coach Barry Trotz continues to call Backstrom day-to-day. ¡­ Trotz set a franchise record by coaching his 54th playoff game with Washington.¡ª TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Jon Cooper searched for adequate words to describe the feeling of coming within one victory of playing for the Stanley Cup.The Tampa Bay Lightning have done it twice in the past three years. And it hurts.¡±It¡¯s everything from agonizing to angry to disappointed to shock,¡± the coach said Thursday, less than 24 hours after one of the most successful seasons in franchise history came to a screeching halt with a 4-0 loss to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.¡±I¡¯m sure that¡¯s going to turn into proud and happy for our group,¡± he added. ¡±There are so many good emotions about coaching this team ¡­ but the emotions of how it ended is tough.¡±After compiling the best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, eliminating the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and rebounding from losing the first games of the conference final to take a 3-2 series lead, the Lightning truly believed this was their year.Now, general manager Steve Yzerman and Cooper face decisions about what needs to be tweaked.The Lightning won Game 7 of the conference final against the Rangers in 2015, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history. They made it back to the East final, only to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games two years ago.¡±If anybody sits and says it was an unsuccessful season http://www.minnesotawildteamshops.com/authentic-ryan-suter-j ersey , I have to question that. You look back at this team. All the accomplishments of the regular season, and then to be one game away from getting to the Stanley Cup Final,¡± Cooper said, his voice trailing off.¡±Now it¡¯s just solving that piece of the puzzle,¡± the coach added, ¡±getting over the top.¡±With a talented roster that¡¯s both deep and fairly young, there won¡¯t be wholesale changes.Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, a Vezina Trophy finalist in his first full season as a starter, is just 23 years old.Leading scorer Nikita Kucherov is 24, Norris Trophy finalist Victor Hedman is 27, and emerging star Brayden Point is just 22.Even captain Steven Stamkos, completing his 10th NHL season Brandon Manning Jersey Womens , is only 28.¡±What were we missing? A couple of goals in Game 7,¡± Cooper said. ¡±You can sit here and pick apart all you want of what went wrong, it was one game. We didn¡¯t score and we lost the game. They were opportunistic and scored, and they advanced. ¡­ It¡¯s razor-thin how close this league is.¡±Yzerman said there are a number of areas where the Lightning need to get better moving forward, including defensively.The GM, however, rejected the notion that somehow the season was a failure because a team with such high expectations didn¡¯t get back to the championship round.¡±It¡¯s really difficult to win the Stanley Cup, and if you¡¯re going to measure every year strictly on it¡¯s a failure if we win or not, I don¡¯t think I look at it that way,¡± Yzerman said.¡±There¡¯s a process and there¡¯s no definitive timeline for it. Just continue to improve, continue to hang around, I guess Womens Zach Parise Jersey , and we¡¯re going to win one of these things,¡± the GM added. ¡±It¡¯s not a failure. It¡¯s a disappointment at this stage, but we¡¯re not sitting here saying we¡¯re the best team by a mile. We realize there¡¯s a bunch of good teams out there, a group of teams that could win the Stanley Cup.¡±Cooper said one thing it¡¯s important to not do this summer is over-react.¡±It¡¯s hard to explain just how hard it is to get here,¡± the coach said. ¡±There are 30 teams who are going to get Monday morning quarterbacked, and one team that is not. You just have to build on your strengths and keep getting better and come back next year stronger than ever.¡±¡ª