Capitals 4, Lightning 3
Troy Brouwer recorded his first career hat trick and Tomas Vokoun turned aside 29 shots as the Washington Capitals handed the Tampa Bay Lightning their season-high sixth straight loss with a 4-3 home triumph on Friday.
Captain Alex Ovechkin scored for the eighth time in 11 games and fellow All-Star Dennis Wideman notched a pair of assists for Washington, which has won 11 of its last 13 home meetings with Tampa Bay.
All-Star Steven Stamkos collected his NHL-leading 30th goal to cut Tampa Bay's deficit to 3-2, but Brouwer's empty-net goal with one minute remaining put the game out of reach.
After Ovechkin opened the scoring with wrist shot from the point at 3:52 of the first period, Brouwer doubled the advantage nearly two minutes later with a sharp-angle shot which beat Dwayne Roloson between the pads.
Brouwer then gave the Capitals a 3-0 edge at 5:25 of the second after cleaning up Mike Knuble's rebound and firing the puck into the open net.
Tom Pyatt, who signed a two-year extension on Monday, scored his career-high fourth goal for Tampa Bay, and Roloson finished with 16 saves.