Washington Capitals (7-6-1 15pts) v. Tampa Bay Lightning (7-5-2 16pts)

Game Recap

Heading into Tampa Bay for the second game of their 4 game road trip, the Washington Capitals take on the Lightning, who are also having an up and down start to the 2025-26 season, but have been 6-1-0 in their last seven games played. In the first period, the Lightning would swarm the Capitals in their zone to start the game, but 4:06 into the period, Brandon Duhaime would net his first of the season with a sharp angle shot to get the Capitals on the board with the 1-0 lead. However, two minutes later, the Capitals would have a defensive breakdown that would allow Emil Lilleberg to skate down the slot to score his first of the season and tie the game at one for the Lightning. Later in the period, after having both teams trading chances, Lilleberg would be called for hooking to give the Capitals the first powerplay of the game. The Capitals would generate at least a shot on the powerplay, but once again, and it’s sounding like a broken record, the Capitals do not do much with the extra man advantage. Moments later, Aliaksei Protas would be called for high sticking to give the Lightning their first powerplay of the game, and the Lightning would score as Jake Guentzel would deflect a Victor Hedman point blast past Logan Thompson to give the Lightning the 2-1 lead.

In the second period, it would be very quiet with chances at both sides, but near the end of the period, we would see some fireworks that would lead to some 4-on-4 action. During the 4 -on-4 time, John Carlson would be the beneficiary of an own goal as his shot would be knocked in by Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak to tie the game at two for the Capitals.

Then in the third period, near the midway point of the period, Brandon Hagel would score to retake the lead for the Lightning. Late in the period, both teams would play at 4-on-4 again, but this time there would be no goals scored, but after both teams were at even strength, Carlson would be called for hooking with 1:38 left in regulation. While shorthanded, the Capitals would generate great pressure on the Lightning, and would pull Logan Thompson to play at 5-on-5. Despite the great effort by the Capitals to try to tie it up, Nikita Kucherov would score on the empty net , but the League would challenge the play, and it would be deemed offsides, so the Lightning would defeat the Capitals 3-2. Tom Wilson would be given a 10 minute Misconduct with 15 seconds left in regulation, and after the final buzzer, Jakob Chychrun and Erik Cernak would drop the gloves for a fight to end the game.

 

Lineups:

Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Anthony Beauvillier

Aliaksei Protas — Connor McMichael — Tom Wilson

Hendrix Lapierre — Justin Sourdif — Ryan Leonard

Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Ethen Frank

Martin Fehervary — John Carlson

Jakob Chychrun — Matt Roy

Rasmus Sandin — Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson

Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Sonny Milano, Dylan McIlrath, Declan Chisholm

Injured: Pierre-Luc Dubois (lower body)

 

Tampa Bay Lightning

Jake Guentzel — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel — Dominic James — Oliver Bjorkstrand

Zemgus Girgensons — Yanni Gourde — Pontus Holmberg

Jack Finley — Gage Goncalves

Victor Hedman — J.J. Moser

Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak

Charle-Edouard D’Astous — Emil Lilleberg

Darren Raddysh

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Curtis Douglas, Max Crozier

Injured: Nick Paul (upper body), Anthony Cirelli (upper body)

 

First Period

WAS Goal – 4:06 – Brandon Duhaime (1) from Ethen Frank (2) and Nic Dowd (3)

TB Goal – 6:07 – Emil Lilleberg (1) from Jake Guentzel (9) and Charle-Edouard D’Astrous (3)

TB Penalty – 11:07 – Emil Lilleberg – 2 minutes for Hooking

WAS Penalty – 13:59 – Aliaksei Protas – 2 minutes for High Sticking

TB PPG – 15:08 – Jake Guentzel (6) from Victor Hedman (12) and Brandon Hagel (7)

 

End of First	WAS – 1	TB – 2
Shots	13	7
Faceoff Wins	10/20	10/20
Hits	5	8
Powerplay	0/1	1/1

Second Period

WAS Penalty – 16:49 – Ryan Leonard – 2 minutes for Roughing

TB Penalty – 16:49 – Jack Finley – 2 minutes for Roughing

WAS Goal – 17:08 – John Carlson (4) from unassisted

 

End of Second	WAS – 2	TB – 2
Shots	23	15
Faceoff Wins	19/36	17/36
Hits	9	13
Powerplay	0/1	1/1

Third Period

TB Goal – 8:42 – Brandon Hagel (7) from Dominic James (3) and Charle-Edouard D’Astrous (4)

WAS Penalty – 16:12 – Tom Wilson – 2 minutes for Cross Checking

TB Penalty – 16:12 – Victor Hedman – 2 minutes for Slashing

TB Penalty – 18:22 – John Carlson – 2 minutes for Hooking

WAS Penalty – 19:44 – Tom Wilson – 10 minute Misconduct

WAS Penalty – 20:00 – Jakob Chychrun – 5 minute major for Fighting

TB Penalty – 20:00 – Erik Cernak – 5 minute major for Fighting

 

End of Third	WAS – 2	TB – 3
Shots	30	19
Faceoff Wins	29/52	23/52
Hits	19	20
Powerplay	0/1	1/2

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