The Washington Capitals will look to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Washington will have Tom Wilson back in their lineup after he missed their loss to the Blues on Friday night.
Tampa Bay comes into the game winners of seven in a row and third in the Atlantic Division with a 34-20-4 record. They are led in scoring by Nikita Kucherov (86 points), who forms a deadly top-line trio with Jake Guentzel (56 points) and Brayden Point (60 points).
The Lightning will start Andrei Vasilevskiy for the eighth game in a row. Washington will counter with Logan Thompson. Ovechkin has scored 11 career goals against Vasilevskiy in his career.
The Capitals-Lightning game is airing on Monumental Sports Network. Joe Beninati and Alan May will have the call. Puck drop is a little after 12:30 pm.
Lines
Washington Capitals
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tunnel shenanigans
1st Period
Puck is dropped.
Alex Ovechkin with a pretty blatant hook into the gut of Victor Hedman at 2:48. Lightning go to game’s first power play.
Lars Eller has a chance down the left wing shorthanded, but his clapper is easily stopped by Vasilevskiy.
🚨 1-0 Washington Capitals. WSH Goal: Jakob Chychrun (18). Assists: R. Sandin (18), D. Strome (42). Time: 5:40.
Jon Cooper is challenging the call on the ice due to a high stick that happened prior to the goal. Chychrun knocked down a Lightning clear that was going over his head 15 seconds before his goal. Vasilevskiy was also interfered with by Pierre-Luc Dubois after being shoved into Vasilevskiy.
NO GOAL. 15 seconds added back to the game clock.
PLD to the box at 9:55 for slashing Brayden Point.
The Lightning get their third power play in the first period after Tom Wilson is whistled for tripping at 16:43. Kucherov tried to deke around Wilson and kind of skated into him while Wilson was moving. Kind of a weak call. PLD gets into it with a Lightning player after the whistle.
🚨 1-0 Tampa Bay Lightning. TBL PPG: Mitchell Chaffee (11). Assists: B. Point (30), N. Kucherov (60). Time: 17:11.
Chaffee scores on a big rebound.
Emil Lilleberg to the box for holding Lars Eller at 18:47. Eller went down easy when Lilleberg’s stick was near him, but all is fair after that last whistle.
At intermission: The Lightning lead 1-0. Tampa has a 10 to 5 shots on goal advantage but the Caps lead in 5v5 shot attempts 10 to 6.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
Jake Guentzel to the box for slashing John Carlson at 2:42.
After the power play ends, Taylor Raddysh is stopped at point blank range by Vasilevskiy. The puck pops high into the air and a Lightning defender then bats it away with his glove.
Connor McMichael and Nick Perbix end up in a scrum at the blue line. Both players off for roughing at 9:38 of the second period.
Ovechkin with a wide open one-timer with a minute left in the period, but can’t score.
At intermission: 1-0 TBL. The Lightning lead in shots 16-13, but the Capitals are dominating in five-on-five shot attempts 32 to 16.
The Capitals have played the Lightning extremely well this season, it's just that Andrei Vasilevskiy is a cheat code.
Nothing you can do.
— Chris Cerullo (@CJC_95) March 1, 2025
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
Aliaksei Protas stopped on a breakaway with 14:45 remaining in the third period. Ovechkin comes in late to have a chat with Vasilevskiy.
🚨 2-0 Tampa Bay Lightning. TBL Goal: Gage Goncalves (2). Unassisted. Time: 06:08.
Thompson is screened in front and Goncalves beats him with a wrister.
Connor McMichael with a wide open chance from the right circle off a Capitals faceoff win, but Vasilevskiy, square to the shooter, makes the save.
Alex Ovechkin checks Ryan McDonagh into the goal, taking it off its hinges.
Ovechkin cursing to himself on the way to the bench with 9:13 remaining. He slams the bench door closed.
Vasilevskiy with a big glove save on Protas with 6:35 remaining. Caps seem to have nothing for the Lightning today.
🚨 2-1 Tampa Bay Lightning. WSH Goal: Alex Ovechkin (31). Assists: M. Roy (18). Time: 16:01.
Alex Ovechkin’s 884th goal of his career!
🚨 3-1 Tampa Bay Lightning. TBL ENG:Brandon Hagel (30). Unassisted. Time: 19:01.
Lazy dump-in attempt by Dylan Strome leads to Hagel’s empty-netter.
Ethen Frank draws a penalty on Luke Glendening at 19:40.
Lightning win 3-1. The Capitals outshot the Lightning 21 to 19 and out-attempted them 51 to 22 at five-on-five.
Bolts beat Caps 3-1, but Ovi scored, but the Caps have still lost three in a row
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