Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman rattled in the game-winning goal in the shootout as the visiting Lightning won their third straight game, nipping the Washington Capitals 2-1 on Saturday night.
In the fourth round, the Lightning defenseman lost control of the puck slightly on approach, collected it and beat Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren (19 saves) on the stick side for the game-winner as Tampa Bay moved to 7-3-0 in its past 10 matches.
The Lightning’s Luke Glendening scored the game’s first goal, while goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves and stopped Dylan Strome, Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael in the shootout after Evgeny Kuznetsov opened the session with a goal.
Anthony Mantha scored in the second period for the Capitals, whose three-game win streak ended. Washington played its fourth consecutive game that went beyond regulation. Brayden Point scored in the second round of the shootout.
Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (lower body) was scratched and missed his second straight game.
After earning home wins over the St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights earlier in the week, the Lightning started on the right foot in their first of three matchups against Washington.
Less than a minute after failing to score during the game’s first power play, Tampa Bay went ahead 1-0 at 7:29 when its third line cashed in on a deflection. Glendening was credited with his fifth goal, with Hedman registering the only assist.
The Capitals successfully denied Tampa Bay on two power-play opportunities but could not score on their lone power play. Washington held a 13-11 edge in shots over 20 minutes.
In the second period, some quick passing near the blue line between Washington’s Joel Edmundson, Aliaksei Protas and Nick Jensen led to a shot by Jensen toward traffic. The puck struck Mantha’s leg, went in and tied the score at 2:01 for his 10th goal of the season.
Washington brought the crowd to its feet at 11:21 when Jensen appeared to score his first goal of the season with a fake at the blue line and high shot over Vasilevskiy.
But the Lightning challenged the goal occurred after an offside. The review determined that it was, erasing the Capitals’ first lead.
In a defensive-oriented third, Washington held a 6-2 shot advantage over the Lightning, who had a fine chance snuffed when Lindren denied Nicholas Paul in close on a rush with less than two minutes remaining before heading to overtime.
–Field Level Media
