Lightning outlast Capitals, end 4-game skid
TAMPA, Fla. -- Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle helped the Tampa Bay Lightning snap their longest losing streak in more than three years.
Bishop finished with 34 saves while Boyle had the shootout deciding goal to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday at Amalie Arena and end a four-game regulation losing streak. Tampa Bay last lost four consecutive games at the end of the 2013 season.
Nikita Kucherov scored a power play goal for the Lightning, while Brayden Point also converted his shootout attempt.
Nicklas Backstrom notched his seventh of the season for Washington. Braden Holtby finished with 32 saves before allowing two of four shooters to convert in the shootout.
After missing out on two power-play chances in the first period, the Lightning were able to cash in on the third chance, coming midway through the second period after Alex Ovechkin was called for slashing.
During the man advantage, Jonathan Drouin would keep the puck alive under pressure at the left circle and keep the play in the zone. The puck would eventually work back to Victor Hedman at the center point where he fed a perfect pass over to Kucherov, who hammered a one-timer past Holtby at 12:38 for his 13th goal of the season.
The Capitals, meanwhile, were coming off a shutout loss in the previous game and went 0-for-6 on the power play, seeing their scoreless streak reach five periods. That included three power-play chances in the second period -- two coming in succession in the final five minutes of the period.
Washington eventually snapped the offensive drought on their fourth power play, coming in the third when Braydon Coburn was called for high sticking at 5:42. The Capitals, who had been building momentum on their previous chances with the man advantage, broke through as Backstrom fired a shot from the left circle through a screen that beat Bishop at 6:24.
The goal ended Washington's scoreless drought at 109 minutes, 40 seconds.
Another power play chance for Washington offered a chance for the Capitals to gain control of the game when Andrej Sustr was called for hooking Jay Beagle at 10:19, but the Lightning penalty kill kept the tie intact.
Washington had another power play chance in overtime when Tampa Bay was called for too many men on the ice with 33.5 seconds left.
NOTES: Capitals RW T.J. Oshie missed his sixth consecutive game with a shoulder injury. ... Lightning D Jason Garrison, who was struck with a puck on the inner part of his knee on Thursday against St. Louis, was scratched due to a lower-body injury. ... Tampa Bay D Nikita Nesterov was a healthy scratch. ... Washington's Barry Trotz coached his 1,382 career game, four shy of passing Mike Keenan for ninth-place on the NHL's all-time list. ... Lightning C Vladislav Namestnikov, a healthy scratch in the previous game, returned to the lineup. ... Tampa Bay RW J.T. Brown was scratched. ... Washington scratched D Taylor Chorney and LW Daniel Winnik.