Caps edge Bolts in shootout thriller

It didn't take long for the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning to provide hockey fans with some more drama.

Meeting for the first time since the Caps were swept by the Lightning in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin scored shootout goals as Washington overcame a rough debut by Tomas Vokoun for a 6-5 win Monday night.

The Capitals have won their first two games -- one in overtime and the second in a shootout. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay, which is playing its first five games on the road, has lost two of three.

Hendricks was the first shooter in the shootout and he beat Dwayne Roloson, and after Nate Thompson and Dominic Moore failed to cover for the Lightning, Semin's shot secured the win.

"I guess there was a little sense of revenge, but there's 80 games left in the season, though," Hendricks said. "To win these divisional games are big for us. We look forward to the next one."

In the five-minute overtime there were three penalties -- two on Washington.

Jason Chimera scored a pair of goals for Washington -- the first for a 4-3 lead -- and the second tied the score at 5 with 2:44 to play. He has three goals in the first two games.

"We know we've got all the skill in the world," Chimera said. "Everyone knows that. You've got to put the work boots on some nights. That's what counts."

Roloson, last season's playoff hero and two days shy of his 42nd birthday, was far less effective this time. After holding the Capitals to 10 goals in four games last spring, Roloson allowed five goals and stopped 38 shots.

"The craziest in all my years of playing," Roloson said.

The first period was a surprisingly offensive one. In his first game as Capitals' goalie, Tomas Vokoun allowed two goals in the first three shots. Tampa Bay's Teddy Purcell was given credit for the first goal when a shot deflected off defenseman Mike Green's skate. After Marcus Johansson poked a shot out of Roloson's glove behind the net, he wrapped it around the goal to tie the score. Bruno Gervais' first goal in 57 games -- since March 25, 2010 -- gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead 8:35 into the game. The Lightning were held to just one shot in the remaining 11:25 of the period.

"It's been a long, long time since I feel as bad as I feel today," Vokoun said. "I should have lost -- hands down -- 99 out of 100 games -- and I won it."

Dennis Wideman's shot past a screened Roloson with 3:20 to play in the first period tied the score at 2-2.

While the first period was frenetic, the second was more defensive.

Moore gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead 56 seconds into the second period on a slap shot past Voukon. Troy Brouwer scored his first goal for Washington at 3:42 of the second to tie it 3-3.

Chimera scored his second goal in two games when he rebounded a shot from Brooks Laich past a sprawling Roloson for the 4-3 lead. At 7:42 of the third, Thompson scored for the Lightning to tie it 4-4.
 
Brett Clark scored at 13:56 of the third period for a 5-4 Tampa Bay lead.

Chimera tied it on an unassisted goal at 17:16, which allowed Vokoun a chance to redeem himself, which he did in both overtime and the shootout.

"Takes a guy with a lot of mental toughness to play like that," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I got to believe if it was me I would have been so mentally out of it.

"It ends up as a positive thing -- even if he didn't have a positive game."

Material from wire services and team media was used in this report.