The Washington Capitals hadn’t scored three goals in a game since March 26. Their offense dried up during a 1-5-2 stretch that threatened their playoff hopes, but to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning at Capital One Arena on Saturday night and keep those still-flickering hopes alive, Washington had to find a way.
With 11:31 left, John Carlson provided that pivotal third goal — the 150th of his career, moving him past Kevin Hatcher for the franchise record among defensemen — to break a tie and help the Capitals claim a 4-2 victory. With the win, Washington jumped back into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference — potentially temporarily, pending the outcome of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ matchup with the Boston Bruins later Saturday.
Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren stopped 32 of 34 shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves for Tampa Bay.
Sonny Milano put the Capitals ahead at 9:56 of the first period. After Max Pacioretty’s shot was blocked by Tampa Bay’s Taylor Raddysh, Raddysh inadvertently directed the puck directly to Milano, who had a half-open net for a backhand finish.
A deflection off Anthony Duclair’s skate in front of Lindgren tied the score at 13:06, but Milano was ready to respond. Another misplay by the Lightning — this time, Vasilevskiy attempted to sweep the puck away from his crease but put it right on Milano’s stick — led to another one-touch finish by Milano, who sent the puck through Vasilevskiy to give Washington its lead back only 54 seconds after Duclair scored.
Brandon Hagel scored another tying goal for Tampa Bay with 3:36 left in the period, finding space as he worked around defenseman Nick Jensen to get off a backhander that Lindgren couldn’t stop.
The period was halted with 1:31 remaining after Jensen was injured on a hit from Tampa Bay’s Michael Eyssimont and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. The Capitals said Jensen is “conscious, alert and has the use of all his extremities.”
Jensen appeared to be motionless on the ice as the stretcher was brought out. After an official review, no penalty was called.
After the teams returned from intermission to complete the first period and play the second, Washington quickly drew a penalty when Steven Stamkos crosschecked winger T.J. Oshie in front of the net. Despite firing five shots at Vasilevskiy during the man advantage, the Capitals couldn’t break through.
Tampa Bay had its own chance at a go-ahead power-play goal late in the period when center Dylan Strome was boxed for hooking, but the Lightning couldn’t break the stalemate. Despite having Nikita Kucherov, whom Washington Coach Spencer Carbery called “the best player in the world on the power play” before Saturday’s game, the Lightning generated just one shot on goal.
On Washington’s next power-play opportunity, Carlson broke through. The Capitals couldn’t convert on a five-on-three, but just five seconds after it became a one-man advantage, Carlson found the net off a pass from Strome.
Center Nic Dowd, who had fired up the home crowd by drubbing Eyssimont in a second-period fight, swatted a rebound past Vasilevskiy with 3:14 left to seal the pivotal win and give the Capitals an all-too-rare fourth goal.
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2024-04-14 00:49:44Z
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