Tampa Bay led 2-0 after 20 minutes on goals from Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos. After Washington trimmed the deficit to one in the second period, Pat Maroon scored twice in the third and Erik Cernak added an empty netter to give the Bolts a comfortable margin.
Andrei Vasilevskiy got the win in goal, stopping 30 of 31 Capitals shots.
The Lightning are back in action on Saturday night when they host the Islanders in the finale of this quick two-game homestand.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, WSH 0
9:20 Alex Killorn (24) - Mikhail Sergachev, Steven Stamkos - PPG
The Bolts struck first midway through the opening period on an Alex Killorn power play goal. Killorn was wide open in front of the Washington net and redirected Mikhail Sergachev's point shot past Darcy Kuemper to give Tampa Bay the lead.
TBL 2, WSH 0
19:57 Steven Stamkos (32) - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Tampa Bay got one final look in the period on an offensive zone draw with less than four seconds to play before intermission. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare won the faceoff cleanly back to Steven Stamkos and his laser beat Kuemper through traffic to make it a two-goal Lightning lead through 20 minutes.
2nd Period
TBL 2, WSH 1
16:10 Craig Smith (7) - Evgeny Kuznetsov, Rasmus Sandin
Craig Smith circled the Lightning net and from behind the goal line, banked a backhander off Andrei Vasilevskiy and in to trim the Lightning's lead to 2-1 late in the second period.
3rd Period
TBL 3, WSH 1
Pat Maroon (4) - Anthony Cirelli
A good stick from Anthony Cirelli forced a turnover and sprung the Bolts on the rush. Cirelli pulled up at the right circle, and although his wrist shot was stopped by Kuemper, Pat Maroon crashed the net to sweep home the rebound.
TBL 4, WSH 1
16:28 Pat Maroon (5) - Anthony Cirelli, Alex Killorn
Maroon added his second goal of the period in exactly the same way he scored his first. Cirelli took the initial shot and Maroon was on-hand at the front of the net to bury the rebound.
TBL 5, WSH 1
18:06 Erik Cernak (2) - Unassisted - ENG
Washington opted to pull Kuemper after a too many men minor was called on the Lightning, but Erik Cernak found the empty net from the neutral zone.
