Washington Capitals (1-0-0 2pts) v. Tampa Bay Lightning (0-1-0 0pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals would be right back to it less than 24 hours after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes to open the 2026-27 season. This time the Capitals would battle former teammate John Carlson and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
However, for the Caps, it would not be a good start as Charle-Edouard D’Astous would score his first of the season on a snipe past Charlie Lindgren to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead 2:25 into the game. The Lightning would tilt the ice into the Caps’ zone and sustain momentum after scoring the goal.
The Caps would get a chance, but Victor Hedman would shut them down and create a scoring chance for the Lightning. Lindgren, however, would be up to the task with a strong save. Later in the period, Justin Sourdif would go to the penalty box for holding. While the Lightning would not score on the powerplay, they would continue buzzing around the Caps’ zone, but Lindgren would stand tall to keep the deficit at one.
The Lightning would continue to carry the play throughout the period, and Conor Geekie would score off a three-way passing play to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. In the final two minutes of the period, Alex Ovechkin would draw a holding penalty against Ryan McDonagh to give the Capitals a late powerplay. The Caps would get some good looks at the start and end of the man-advantage, but would also struggle to get into the zone and set up.
Overall, it would be a poor start to the game for the Caps as they would be outshot 14-5 by the Lightning and win just two faceoffs the entire period.
Going into the second period, the Capitals would find themselves in the penalty box less than three minutes into the period as Aliaksei Protas would be called for tripping. The Lightning would not generate as many chances as they did on their first powerplay, as the Capitals would do a better job of keeping them to the outside to kill off the penalty.
After the TV timeout, the Capitals would finally strike as Jakob Chychrun would send a bomb pass to Justin Sourdif, who would redirect it past Andrei Vasilevskiy to bring the Caps back within one.
Later in the period, the Lightning would attack the net and cause a ruckus that would see Vincent Desharnais fight Emil Lilleberg. The fireworks would continue with some physical play as Pontus Holmberg and Chychrun would both be called for unsportsmanlike conduct, sending the two teams to 4-on-4.
To end the period, the shots would be even at seven apiece, making it a much better period for the Capitals as they would head into the second intermission trailing by just one.
Then in the third period, the Capitals announced that defenseman Matt Roy would not return to the game due to a lower-body injury. Both teams would go down a man 32 seconds into the period for some 4-on-4 hockey, and both sides would get some solid scoring opportunities. After the penalties expired, Lindgren would make a spectacular save to keep the Caps down by one.
After some more back-and-forth hockey, Ryan Leonard would draw a penalty against the Lightning to give the Capitals their second powerplay of the game. While the Caps would fail to score on the man-advantage, they would come very close near the end of it, but Vasilevskiy would shut the door.
The Lightning would get some golden opportunities midway through the period, but Lindgren would once again keep them at bay. Martin Fehervary would take a roughing penalty with seven minutes left in the game to give the Lightning a powerplay, but the Capitals would keep them from generating any meaningful chances.
With less than three minutes left, the Capitals would pull Lindgren for the extra attacker, but it would backfire as Jake Guentzel would score an empty-netter to give the Lightning a 3-1 victory over the Capitals. Before time would run out, the Capitals would come close with heavy pressure in the Lightning’s zone, but their sluggish first period would prove too costly as the Caps would fall 3-1.
Lineups:
Washington Capitals
Alex Tuch — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Ryan Leonard
Alaiksei Protas — Ilya Protas — Jordan Kyrou
Boone Jenner — Justin Sourdif — Anthony Beauvillier
Jakob Chychrun — Matt Roy
Cole Hutson — Vincent Desharnais
Martin Fehervary — Timothy Liljegren
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Scratched: Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath
Injured: Rasmus Sandin (knee)
Tampa Bay Lightning
Gage Goncalves — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel — Anthony Cirelli — Brandon Hagel
Ilya Mikheyev — Zemgus Girgensons — Pontus Holmberg
Jeffrey Viel — Conor Geekie
J.J. Moser — John Carlson
Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak
Victor Hedman — Emil Lilleberg
Charle-Edouard D’Astous
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Dennis Hildeby
Scratched: Scott Sabourin, Max Crozier, Jansen Harkins
Injured: Dominic James (hand), Yanni Gourde (hip)
First Period:
TB Goal – 2:25 – Charle-Edouard D’Astous (1) from Brandon Hagel (1) and Emil Lilleberg (1)
WAS Penalty – 8:35 – Justin Sourdif – 2 minutes for Holding
TB Goal – 16:30 – Conor Geekie (1) from Brandon Hagel (2) and Jake Guentzel (1)
TB Penalty – 18:02 – Ryan McDonagh – 2 minutes for Holding
| End of First | WAS – 0 | TB – 2 |
| Shots | 5 | 14 |
| Faceoff Wins | 2/14 | 12/14 |
| Hits | 11 | 10 |
| Powerplay | 0/1 | 0/1 |
Second Period:
WAS Penalty – 2:43 – Aliaksei Protas – 2 minutes for Tripping
WAS Goal – 7:15 – Justin Sourdif (1) from Jakob Chychrun (2) and Boone Jenner (1)
TB Penalty – 13:54 – Emil Lilleberg – 5 minute major for Fighting
WAS Penalty – 13:54 – Vincent Desharnais – 5 minute major for Fighting
TB Penalty – 14:56 – Pontus Holmberg – 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
WAS Penalty – 14:56 – Jakob Chychrun – 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
| End of Second | WAS – 1 | TB – 2 |
| Shots | 12 | 21 |
| Faceoff Wins | 11/31 | 20/31 |
| Hits | 19 | 20 |
| Powerplay | 0/1 | 0/2 |
Third Period:
TB Penalty – :32 – Zemgus Girgensons – 2 minutes for Roughing
WAS Penalty – :32 – Tom Wilson – 2 minutes for Roughing
TB Penalty – 8:57 – Brayden Point – 2 minutes for Hooking
WAS Penalty – 12:56 – Martin Fehervary – 2 minutes for Roughing
TB ENG – 17:55 – Jake Guentzel (1) from Nikita Kucherov (1) and John Carlson (1)
WAS Penalty – 17:55 – Tom Wilson – 10 minute Misconduct
| End of Third | WAS – 1 | TB – 3 |
| Shots | 20 | 30 |
| Faceoff Wins | 18/46 | 28/46 |
| Hits | 24 | 30 |
| Powerplay | 0/2 | 0/3 |
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