TAMPA (WDAE) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning saw the Washington Capitals score two goals in a 46 second span early in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and go on to drop a 5-2 decision Saturday at Amalie Arena.
The Lightning had plenty of opportunities to score early in he first period, but it would be Washington who got on the board first, as Nicklas Backstrom took advantage of a Jan Rutta giveaway, the puck deflecting off Ondrej Palat's foot and right onto his stick, easily beating Vasilevskit for a 1-0 lead they'd keep through the first intermisison.
Tampa Bay took advantage of a Backstrom penalty, with Brayden Point taking a centering pass from Alex Killorn and beating Ilya Samsonov to tie up the game.
The Lightning lost reigning league MVP Nikita Kucherov midway through the second period, when he blocked a slapshot from John Carlson and crumpled to the ice. He skated gingerly to the bench, went to the locker room and did not return. Head coach Jon Cooper said after the game there was no update on the forward's condition.
Lars Eller broke the tie less than two minutes into the third period, and 46 seconds later, Garnet Hathaway added his fifth of the year giving the Capitals a 3-1 lead.
Rutta got the Lightning back to within 3-2 with his first goal of the season with just under nine minutes to play, but T.J. Oshie re-established the two-goal lead for Washington just over a minute later, and Tom Wilson salted things away with an empty-net goal with just under 40 seconds left in the game.
Tampa Bay will look to start a new winning streak Tuesday, when the Ottawa Senators come to Amalie Arena. Face-off is set for 7:00, and can be heard on NewsRadio WFLA.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- WSH: GOAL - Nicklas Backstrom (6). ASSISTS - none. TIME - 6:42.
2nd Period
- TBL (PP): GOAL - Brayden Point (12). ASSISTS - Killorn, Kucherov. TIME - 5:45.
3rd Period
- WSH: GOAL - Lars Eller (7). ASSISTS - Panik, Orlov. TIME - 1:58
- WSH: GOAL - Garnet Hathaway (5). ASSISTS - Leipsic, Gudas. TIME - 2:42.
- TBL: GOAL - Jan Rutta (1). ASSISTS - Killorn, Gourde. TIME - 11:16
- WSH: GOAL - T.J. Oshie (14). ASSISTS - Vrana, Kuznetsov. TIME - 12:19.
- WSH: GOAL - Tom Wilson (12). ASSISTS - Oshie, Backstrom. TIME - 19:21.