The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night. The Bolts have now won two straight games in overtime, to improve to 2-1-0. For the Caps, they lose their first of the season to fall to 1-0-1.
Game Recap
The first period began with an Alex Killorn hooking penalty. However, Washington was not able to score on the man advantage. Late in the period, Killorn took a slapshot that was deflected into the safety netting. The puck fell back down onto the ice and Killorn tucked it in the net for a goal. During review, the refs noticed that the puck went out of play, therefore, Killorn’s goal was overturned. At the end of one, the score was 0-0.
Just past halfway through the second period, Ross Colton took a penalty. Luckily for Tampa Bay, Washington was unsuccessful on the power play once again. Later in the period, the Capitals took their first penalty with a Carl Hagelin tripping call. Shortly after the Lightning power play was over, Alex Ovechkin scored his third goal of the season. The Great Eight made the score 1-0 Washington to end the period.
Five minutes into the third, Sergachev let go of a bomb from the point. The power of this shot forced its way through the defense and Vitek Vanecek to tie the game at one. With the game even at one a piece, both teams made sure to make no mistakes in the remaining minutes of regulation. However, Ondrej Palat interfered with Trevor van Riemsdyk, resulting in a two minute penalty. Fortunately, Tampa Bay killed the penalty. Regulation finished at a score of 1-1.
Nearly a minute and a half into overtime, the Lightning took yet another penalty. Thankfully, the penalty was not costly to Tampa Bay as they killed it off. Although the momentum seemed to be in Washington’s favor, after killing the penalty, Tampa Bay scored the game-winner. Steven Stamkos scored his third of the season to win the game for the Lightning.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finally played up to his caliber self, with 32 saves on 33 shots.
Takeaways/Notes
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 804th goal in both the regular season and playoffs. This places him in sole possession of fifth all-time in goals in the regular season and playoffs combined.
- Steven Stamkos’ seven points in three games make this his best three-game start to a season in his career.
- Boris Katchouk played in his first career NHL game Saturday night.
Up Next
Tampa Bay will return home on Tuesday for a game versus their cross-state rival in the Florida Panthers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.