Capitals 2, Lightning 1
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Washington Capitals bounced back from a rare loss, jumping out early on the Tampa Bay Lightning and holding on for a 2-1 victory Saturday at Amalie Arena.
Goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 34 Tampa Bay shots as Washington (20-6-2) beat the Lightning (14-13-3) for the second time in 15 days. What ended up the winning goal was a highlight-reel trick of a shot, with Evgeny Kuznetsov fooling Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop by looping around the net but scoring from behind him inside the near post in the second period.
Tampa Bay missed on its first three power plays, but when the Lightning got a fourth one a minute later in the third, they converted with red-hot right wing Nikita Kucherov firing a shot to the top right corner past Capitals goalie Braden Holtby with 11:55 left.
The Lightning were very much the aggressors in the final period, outshooting the Capitals 15-1 in the third.
The Lightning pulled Bishop for the final minute, but Holtby held on for one more save to seal the victory.
The Capitals built a 2-0 lead after two periods, thanks to a pair of goals that went behind Bishop. That started early as right wing Jay Beagle, behind and to the right of Bishop, poked a shot into the goal 2:09 into the game. It was his fourth goal of the season.
The Lightning outshot the Capitals 21-19 in the first two periods, but Washington was able to extend its lead midway through the second on a nifty move by Kuznetsov. He was curling around the goal to Bishop's left and as Bishop started shifting to the right, Kuznetsov pulled the puck back as he moved behind the net and snuck it around the near post for a 2-0 lead. The goal was Kuznetsov's ninth of the season, and defenseman John Carlson got his 17th assist on the play.
The game was twice stopped for fights that resulted in a pair of five-minute penalties. Beyond those, each team went 0-for-2 on power plays in the first two periods.
Washington bounced back nicely after a 4-1 loss at the Panthers on Thursday. The Capitals had scored points in eight straight before that, including seven wins. Tampa Bay had won three of four games coming into Saturday.
NOTES: Lightning LW Jonathan Drouin (lower-body injury) was a late scratch. RW Erik Condra was out with a lower-body injury, C Tyler Johnson missed the game with an undisclosed injury and C Cedric Paquette was sidelined out with an upper-body injury. ... Washington had three healthy scratches -- C Michael Latta, D Aaron Ness and RW Chris Brown. ... The Lightning open a three-game road trip on Monday at the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Capitals finish a three-game road trip on Monday at the Pittsburgh Penguins before returning home to play host to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. ... The two teams will meet again on Friday in Washington.