Capitals 4, Lightning 2
WASHINGTON -- Left winger Jason Chimera had one of Washington's three power-play goals and an assist as the Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Friday night.
Left winger Alex Ovechkin and right winger T.J. Oshie also had power-play goals for Washington, which opened a 3-0 lead with two goals in the final two minutes of the second period.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov and defenseman John Carlson each had two assists for the Capitals (16-5-1), who have won four straight to pull within one point of the first-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division.
Trailing 4-0, the Lightning got third-period goals from center Brian Boyle and defenseman Victor Hedman to halve the deficit with 7:15 left.
Washington was 3 of 4 with the man advantage and Tampa Bay was 0 of 1 before getting a second power-play chance with 12 seconds left in the game.
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and Washington's Braden Holtby made 32 saves.
The Lightning saw their three-game winning streak end. They've have lost 8 of 9 in Washington.
Washington took a season-high 19 shots in the first period, thanks in part to two Tampa Bay penalties.
The Lightning hadn't allowed a power-play goal in four games, but that streak ended at 7:09.
Chimera, behind the end line, fed a pass across the slot to Ovechkin in the left circle, and Ovechkin wristed a shot into the top corner for his 12th goal of the season.
The second period was scoreless until Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn went off for delay of game with 3:15 left.
With just seconds remaining in the power play, center Evgeny Kuznetsov sent a slap pass to Chimera in the slot and he redirected it home for his sixth goal of the season.
Washington quickly made it 3-0 with 42 seconds left in the period when Carlson's centering pass deflected past Vasilevskiy.
Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson, who returned to action Wednesday after missing three games with an upper body injury, played 48 seconds in the first period and did not return.
NOTES: Washington's Barry Trotz coached his 1,300th NHL game. ... Capitals D John Carlson played in his 400th consecutive game. ... Tampa Bay remains without C Cedric Paquette (out five games, upper body) and LW Jonathan Drouin (five games, undisclosed). ... Lightning D Luke Witkowski was a healthy scratch ... Capitals D Brooks Orpik (lower body) missed his eighth game. ... Washington RW Stanislav Galiev and C Chris Brown were healthy scratches. ... The Lightning penalty kill unit began play 44 of 49 (89.8 percent) in its last 18 games. ... Washington begins a three-game road trip in Canada on Saturday night at Toronto.