WASHINGTON (AP) The good news for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals is they still lead their Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The bad news for the Capitals Toronto Maple Leafs Hats Womens , counterintuitive as it may be: They host Game 4.So far, Washington is 7-1 in away games this postseason, closing out each of its first two series on the road.Heading into Thursday night, the Capitals are only 3-4 in their arena. The latest setback was a 4-2 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday, after victories at Tampa Bay by a combined score of 10-4 in the final’s opening two games.Ovechkin simply shrugged when asked about that discrepancy.”We don’t think about it,” the three-time NHL MVP said. ”We just play our game.”Others were less dismissive.”We can take a few things that we’ve done on the road and put it into our home game,” goalie Braden Holtby said. ”Just a little simpler. Simpler play. Just a kind of, like, more gritty style.”Asked what his club could do to fare better at home, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said: ”Just play the way we do on the road. We’re invested there. We’re playing with real good focus. I didn’t think we were as focused as we have been normally on the road. So just pretend you’re on the road. All the buildings are pretty well the same these days.”Trotz notices a difference in his players’ attitude on home ice, saying: ”It’s `us against the world’ when were on the road.”There is a league-wide trend here: Road teams are 38-34 in these playoffs.So much for any supposed home-ice advantage, right?”For whatever reason, at this time of the year there are more distractions than in the regular season Custom Toronto Maple Leafs Jerseys , for sure. A lot of people have friends and family coming down and ticket requests. Sometimes there’s that little added pressure of playing at home and wanting to obviously do good things in front of your fans,” Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said. ”There’s something to be said, too, (for) winning games on the road, when you can just kind of hear a pin drop in the crowd, sometimes, which is always a good thing.”Holtby agreed.”It’s easier to play on the road. It’s always that way on the road. Any team would say that,” he said. ”Because you’re not focused on the excitement of your fans and all that. They bring you energy in good ways, but at the same time, you need to stay realistic and play your game.”During the regular season, Washington was a strong home team, playing in front of loud, red-wearing sellout crowds in every game.Only five teams in the 31-club NHL had more victories at home than Washington’s 28 – and that total represents seven more wins than the Capitals managed on the road.So what is going on in the playoffs?”I don’t really have an explanation for it www.canucksshoponline.com , to be honest with you,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. ”I know when we go on the road, I think maybe we feel a bit more relaxed, and when we do make mistakes, maybe we don’t let the groaning affect us or whatnot. I mean, that being said, I think we should be probably mentally stronger to not let that affect us. Just got to try to find a way to win the next one at home, for sure.”NOTES: Injured Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who has missed the last four games with an injured right hand, took part in the team’s optional skate Wednesday. But Trotz wouldn’t give any hint as to when Backstrom might return. ”When Nicky’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” Trotz said. ”You miss him in every way shape or form.” … Washington re-signed D Aaron Ness to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650 Vancouver Canucks T-Shirts Womens ,000 if he’s in the NHL, $425,000 in the minors. Ness had one assist in eight games for the Capitals this season.—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.— VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Dustin Brown and the Los Angeles Kings gave coach Willie Desjardins a victory in his return to Vancouver.Brown scored 53 seconds into overtime to lift the Kings over the Canucks 2-1 on Tuesday night. Alex Iafallo scored for Los Angeles in regulation, and Calvin Petersen made 32 saves.Desjardins returned to Rogers Arena as a head coach for the first time since the Canucks fired him at the end of the 2016-17 season. He received a mix of cheers and jeers from the crowd when his face was shown on the big video screen before the game.“Whenever you come back in here, there’s lots of good guys in that room over there and I know that,” said Desjardins, who took over in Los Angeles when John Stevens was dismissed this month. “And I know they hate to lose as well, but I certainly enjoyed a win.”Brown assisted on Iafallo’s goal, and Anze Kopitar had two assists for the Kings.Markus Granlund tied the game for the Canucks with 3:43 to go in the third period. Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots.“Obviously, they have a heavy team,” Granlund said. “I think we needed more speed and more legs to get more goals.”Desjardins thought Petersen helped set the tone early by making a couple of “outstanding” saves.“For a young guy to come in and do that is pretty impressive,” the coach said.Vancouver spent a lot of time in the Kings end in the third period Vancouver Canucks Hoodies Womens , outshooting them 13-6. But there weren’t a ton of great chances, Petersen said.“The whole time it was our game to win and I think it was just a matter of time, really,” said Petersen, who earned his fourth win of the season. “Obviously when they get one that late in the game it could be deflating, but I think we have been through too much as a team to let stuff like that continue to bother us. It showed in the overtime. We controlled the play and luckily we were rewarded.”The 24-year-old’s calm demeanor in net has helped the Kings this year, Brown said.“Even from a young guy it has an effect on the team when you have a guy who doesn’t get flustered or when a goal goes in he just resets and goes,” Brown explained. “Cal has a lot of that calmness in net that I think kind of helps our team not panic.”Iafallo was first to find the back of the net 10:45 into the second. The left wing collected a pass from Brown high in the faceoff circle and fired a slap shot past Markstrom for his fifth goal of the season.Granlund tied it when he deflected the puck past Petersen for his fifth of the season.Jonathan Quick returned to the Kings as Petersen’s backup. The 32-year-old goalie has struggled with a lower-body injury this season and missed the previous 12 games.Meanwhile, the Canucks got an offensive force back in Brock Boeser. The 21-year-old right wing had been out since early November, missing 11 games with a lower-body injury.Boeser rang a backhand off the post in the second period, but couldn’t add to the 11 points he’s amassed this season.“It was a tough first two periods and we all knew that after the second, we weren’t making good passes and we weren’t helping the D out in the D-zone,” Boeser said. “Our compete wasn’t there and they were outworking us Vancouver Canucks Hats Womens , outbattling us.”Despite the loss, Markstrom thinks the Canucks are playing well in their own zone and creating offense in their opponents’ end.“We’re playing tighter in front of our net and we’re letting their shots come from the outside, so we’re doing a good job,” the goalie said. “We’re creating a lot of scoring chances as well, even though we haven’t scored as many goals as we could have. … So goals are going to come.”NOTES: Vancouver was missing defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who tweaked his neck in practice Monday and is day to day. … One hockey fan might have been the biggest winner of the night. The Canucks’ 50/50 jackpot hit a record-breaking $1,413,630, giving the winner a prize of more than $700,000.UP NEXTKings: At the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.Canucks: Continue a five-game homestand Thursday against Vegas.