Saturday night’s game between the Caps and the Tampa Bay Lightning was a compelling contest, a fast-paced, physical affair that occasionally resembled playoff hockey. Both teams played well, and the Caps controlled play for much of the evening. But Washington came out on the short end of a 3-2 decision against the Bolts at Benchmark International Arena, falling for the sixth time in its last seven games (1-5-1).
Tampa Bay is the only team to score a first-period goal against Washington goaltender Logan Thompson this season, and the Bolts are the only team to score as many as three goals against him in any of his 10 starts this season. The third one in Saturday’s game – off the stick of Brandon Hagel just ahead of the midpoint of the third period – proved to be the game-winner, snapping a 2-2 deadlock.
Hagel’s goal came in transition, as the Caps’ breakout bid was blunted in the neutral zone. Rookie Dominic James – who departed the game briefly in the second period after taking a puck to the right side of his face – gained the Washington zone and put a short pass on Hagel’s tape. From the slot, he fired a shot that beat Thompson on the glove side at 8:42 of the third.
“Everything looks good, we get the game-tying goal [late in the second], and then we make a mistake,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “And no fault; we just bobble a puck, lose middle ice, and it’s the back of your net, and it’s 3-2, that’s how tight it is. We’re finding ourselves on the other end of some of those plays, and that’s what we’ve got to flip.”
“[Hagel] almost seemed like he fanned on it or whipped it a little off speed, and he just handcuffed me,” recounts Thompson. “And it's unfortunate that ended up being the game-winner, because I thought overall, I think from team standpoint – even from a goalie standpoint – I felt good tonight. Unfortunately, that's sometimes how hockey works. I'll take responsibility for the third one; it happens.”
The Caps got off on the good foot, taking a 1-0 lead before the first television timeout of the first period. Playing in his first game after a four-game absence because of an upper body injury, Ethen Frank was the catalyst for Washington’s first goal on his first shift of the game.
Frank beat his man to a puck deep in Tampa Bay ice, and left it for Brandon Duhaime, who pushed it right back to Frank, behind the Lightning net. As Nic Dowd went to the slot, he drew the attention of a couple of black sweaters, but Frank had another option in Duhaime, who was just off the left post, just above the goal line. Frank fed him perfectly, and Duhaime tucked it behind Andrej Vasilevskiy on the short side for a 1-0 Washington lead at 4:06.
“We're trying to play it simple,” says Frank, “keep pucks down low and drag their [defensemen] out, and Dowder made a real hard play behind the net. I had some time and space, and nobody picked up Duhaime on their team, and he was wide open at a sharp angle. The goalie was looking on the [right] post, and [Duhaime] was on the [left] post. So I just tried to get it to him as quick as I could.”
Two minutes later, the Bolts pulled even when Jake Guentzel threaded a feed from behind the Washington net to late arriving blueliner Emil Lilleberg, whose shot eluded Logan Thompson on the glove side, squaring the score at 1-1 at 6:07.
After today’s morning skate, Carbery made note of the ever-dangerous Tampa Bay power play, cautioning not to be swayed by their low success rate thus far this season and saying his team needed to be disciplined. But after Aliaksei Protas was whistled for a hi-sticking minor in the offensive zone, the Bolts took the lead when a Victor Hedman center point drive hit Guentzel and deflected past Thompson on the power play at 15:09.
Back on Oct. 14 in Washington in the first meeting between these two teams this season, Guentzel scored on Thompson in the first period of a game in which the Caps prevailed 3-2 in overtime. Until tonight, it was the only first-period goal Thompson allowed all season.
Tampa Bay’s forecheck was more prominent in the second period, But by the middle of the frame the Caps were creating some odd-man opportunities for themselves and forcing Vasilevskiy to make some tough stops, which he did; he shrugged off a Tom Wilson shot on a 2-on-1 just after the midpoint of the middle period, and he gloved down a Jakob Chychrun bid a few minutes later.
Vasilevskiy’s best stop was a left pad denial of a Wilson breakaway, though he did get a touch of help from a backchecking Hedman.
With just over three minutes left in the second, Wilson checked Hagel into Thompson. The Caps goalie needed help getting to the bench, but only because his left skate blade had been knocked off. A scrum in front of the crease resulted in matching minors and some 4-on-4 hockey at this juncture of the contest.
Washington quickly pulled even with its first 4-on-4 tally of the season.
The Caps broke out of their end cleanly, with Rasmus Sandin sending John Carlson into Tampa Bay ice down the right side. From above the right circle, Carlson leaned into clapper that Vasilevskiy got a piece of, but it trickled behind him and wobbled ever so slowly toward to goal line as skaters from both sides raced to get to it. With the puck straddling the goal line, the Lightning’s Erik Cernak arrived first, but with no margin for error. He couldn’t clear it and inadvertently knocked it in, proving the old adage, there are no bad shots on goal.
Carlson’s fourth goal of the season made it a 2-2 contest at 17:08, but Washington was unable to regain the lead, and unable to find an equalizer after Hagel’s goal in the third.
Saturday’s result was similar to several other recent games. The Caps played well enough to win, but they skated away with no points.
“Same old song,” says Carbery. “I thought we did some good things tonight; [we] controlled the majority of the play. It was tight; it was a hard-fought game on both sides, so it wasn’t a significant advantage. But I would say if we go back through it, I think the numbers will say that we had the better looks, the more opportunities, and more [offensive] zone time. But it’s tight. We did a lot of good things; we’re just finding ways to lose games.”
“We can’t fall on that,” says Carlson. “We’ve got to find ways to score goals and come out on top. It does us no good to feel like you’re playing good if you don’t win. It doesn’t matter.”
