The Backcheck: A rough night in D.C.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have lost two games in a row for just the second time this season after dropping Friday night's contest to the Washington Capitals 5-1. The loss tied the largest margin of defeat for the Bolts this season, who have lost seven of the last 10 matchups at Capital One Arena.

Washington opened the scoring at the 10:32 mark of the first period when Anthony Mantha got left alone on the back door and directed the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.
The Bolts did a great job pushing back and earned a power play opportunity after Nick Jensen took a hooking penalty at the 11:25 mark. Making some changes to the top power play unit, the Lightning had Mikhail Sergachev at the point and Brandon Hagel down low, along with the usual three forwards of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos. The new power play showed some real improvement with increased urgency, quick puck movement, strong puck retrieval and multiple battles won along the boards.
Despite some good chances in the opening 20 minutes, the Lightning couldn't find a way to get one past Darcy Kuemper, who played strong throughout the evening for Washington.
Starting the second period trailing 1-0, Tampa Bay earned a five-minute power play when Nicolas Aube-Kubel was issued a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of Cal Foote, who was unable to return for the remainder of the game. Aube-Kubel made direct contact with the head of Foote as he was skating through the middle of the ice and may face a suspension or fine from the NHL.
"That's a tough hit," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "That defines the word 'blindside.'"
While the penalty was being reviewed, plenty of conversation was being had near center ice and it ended with Pat Maroon dropping the gloves with Garnet Hathaway. It was the first of three fights on the night, after Corey Perry and Vladislav Namestnikov also dropped the gloves late in the third period. The Caps and the Bolts are set to play again on Sunday night at AMALIE Arena.
"I don't know," said Cooper when asked if he expects the chippy play to roll over into Sunday. "Teams are trying to win hockey games. They're hockey players, so when the puck drops, everybody's into it.
"We'll see who's in the lineup for each team. That may have something to do with it. Both teams play with passion. It's a passionate game.
"I don't think teams are looking to be chippy, but sometimes it happens when you're playing the same team twice in a row."
The Lightning generated some good chances with the man advantage, but Kuemper continued to play strong between the pipes for the Capitals and Tampa Bay failed to score on the five-minute power play.
Just as the man advantage expired, Sonny Milano, who was serving the penalty for Aube-Kubel, exited the box and took a pass that sprung him on a breakaway before he beat Vasilevskiy to make it 2-0 seven seconds after the Lightning's power play expired.
Failing to score on a five-minute power play and immediately giving up a breakaway goal felt deflating for the Bolts, who surrendered a third-straight goal 7:22 later and fell into a 3-0 hole heading into the second intermission.
"We get a five-minute major there and we can't score," said Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos. "They come out of the box and score. Those are turning points in games and when things are going good, you capitalize on those opportunities.
"When you're in a rut, you try not to let it snowball, but it has been the last couple games. It's costing us some opportunities and some points.
"We just have to keep going at it. It's on us in this room and we have to be better."
After Conor Sheary added a fourth goal for Washington, the Lightning were able to spoil the shutout for Kuemper with Nick Perbix scoring his second goal of the season with a one-timer off a pass from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Ian Cole picked up the secondary assist.
With the score at 4-1, the Bolts continued to play hard and lost two big-time defenders while on the penalty kill. Erik Cernak and Sergachev both willingly stepped in front of Alex Ovechkin one-timers and were injured blocking the shots. Neither Cernak nor Sergachev returned, although it was very late in the game.
"That's championship pedigree," said Stamkos. "That's what you have to do to win in this league and it's ingrained in guys.
"It's tough to see when you see really good defensemen having to go out and eat those shots, but they've been doing that their whole careers here and that's why they're so valuable. But let's try not to put them in those situations by taking penalties."
While the Lightning penalty kill performed well with a 6-for-6 showing, the power play went 0-for-3, including the five-minute major. The inability to score on the elongated power play, combined with the timing of Milano's goal in the second period, felt like the turning point of the game that Tampa Bay couldn't come back from.
Luckily for the Lightning, they'll have a chance to get back at the Capitals on Sunday night. For Stamkos, it doesn't matter what team the Bolts play. They just want to get back out there and improve.
"Anytime you don't play the way you want, you want to get right back at it, no matter who you're playing," Stamkos explained. "We've got to get some mojo back.
"We had a good run there. We had points in five or six in a row and we've dropped a couple, so we need to get back home and get on another streak here."