Explaining the WSH-TBL series

Going into this series, this is what I was anticipating:

The Lightning, coming off of an impressive 3-1 comeback against the Penguins, will look sharp having just won 3 games straight. I figured, however, that guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin (hehehe Semin) will play with a ton of passion that has been missing since previous playoff runs. I figured they'd fight back after losing the first couple of games and eventually win the series in 7. The Capitals finally figured out what they needed in net, and although many a people criticized Neuvirth throughout the series, the goals weren't necessarily HIS fault. Lazy defense and immense pressure from Tampa were the reasons for most of the goals he gave up this series. Neuvirth, in my opinion, played well enough for the Caps to have won each game. 

So the question is this:

What went wrong for the Capitals and what went right for the Lightning?

What went wrong for the Capitals?:

The NHL isn't the NBA. Just because you put a Derrick Rose-type player on skates, doesn't mean you are going to receive instant success. Ovechkin is a great player but he's going to need some help if Washington wants to finally exercise their demons and get past the second round. Well you're going to tell me that the Capitals DO have a legitimately good supporting cast for Ovie. But this series, guys like Semin, Green, Backstrom, and Laich (basically everyone on the team not named Ovechkin and Neuvirth), guys that have been on this team for a few years and know how desperate this team needs to win, simply didn't show up to win hockey games. Their defense was very weak and were 100% at fault for their game 3 collapse when they gave up 2 quick goals to blow their lead and to blow their game.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPbXJaveghQ Failed clearing attempt. Noone covering Stamkos. A goal scorer scores goals. Next, defenseman doesn't do a good enough job at tying up forward who's charging the net. Bad play and they lost the pivotal game 3. In game 2, when they lost in overtime, the players AND the coaching staff were at fault. The classic scenario of the first overtime in the playoffs is that there are long shifts and the changes are longer because of the positioning of the benches. Your bench is going to be farther away from your defensive zone. This is why you see so many odd man rushes and deep passes in overtime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihbuugdmjIk This was Lecavalier's overtime winner. An awful change by the Capitals. The coaching staff has to prepare the team better for this type of stuff and the players need to do it quicker. I went to a Devil-Flames game earlier this year (when both teams were struggling) and while watching the game I noticed something. The Flames were so fluent and quick whenever they changed on the fly. They may not be a good team but they focused on a detail that may be important and may just lead them to a few wins. So the coaching staff is also someone to blame for this sweep. People are talking about Bruce Boudreau being fired because of the lack of #winning and I wouldn't be surprised if he does. But the Cap's problem goes beyond the coaches. The players didn't put enough effort into it. Tonight, they were down 4-2 with 3 minutes to go. During an offensive zone attack, Alex Semin was tripped down and stayed down on the ice for a few seconds. When he got up, he yelled a few words to the referee and skated slowly to the bench for a change. While he was doing this (not going back on D), the Lightning got it out of the zone and went down to score on a rush.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Czn-0xLQA&feature=feedu This just shows you the lack of will the Capitals had this series.
EDIT: So today, the day after being swept, the Russian head coach went right out and said they were not going to take Alex Semin onto the Russian team for the World Championships. The reason why? "We won't invite Semin under any circumstance. His play in the last Washington game was very weak."
OUCH

But this doesn't mean you should take away credit from the Lightning.

Going into the playoffs, their system was criticized. What was their system? An intricate 1-3-1 system. What it is? One man is deep in their own zone when the other team has the puck. This way, if a team dumps it in, or shoots it in on net, he'll be the first one back and will have plenty of time to deal with the puck. The one man attacking forces the team to make passes up the middle which are intercepted by the 3 in the neutral zone. This system worked to PERFECTION against the Caps. Plays like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ulg12oE-Nc happened over and over again. The system is to create turnovers and when the turnovers happen, it transitions easily into an attack. The Lightning scored a handful of goals like this.
Edit: Into the 3rd round the Lightning are scoring off of this. Here's Teddy Purcell's goal from game 1 against Boston http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3b0V15BG3k

So Tampa looks poised now to make a run all the way to the Finals. With this great system, and having just won 7 STRAIGHT GAMES, they look unstoppable.

Let's wait and see.