NHL

Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League

Andrei Vasilevskiy makes 31 saves as Lightning shut out Capitals 3-0

Brayden Point scores on the power play for Tampa Bay Lightning

Vasilevskiy was at his best in the second period, stopping all 16 shots he faced. He robbed Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dylan Strome late in the period — and got some help from the post on another shot by Dubois. It was the 297th victory of his career and his first shutout against Washington.

Mitchell Chaffee gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the second period, deflecting a shot by Nick Paul past Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who finished with 17 saves. Brayden Point made it 2-0 at 2:26 of the third period, and Conor Geekie scored his first NHL goal at 3:10.

Nikita Kucherov extended his season-opening point streak to eight games with the primary assist on Point’s goal.

Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who has 50 career goals in 82 games against the Lightning, was limited to two shots on goal.

Takeaways Capitals: Washington had outscored its opponents 23-13 during the five-game winning streak.

Lightning: Tampa Bay has scored first in each of its eight games this season, but this was the first time in their five victories that the Lightning scored fewer than four goals.

Key moment Vasilevskiy stopped Aliaksei Protas on a breakaway from the red line 2:28 into the first period to keep the game scoreless.

Key stats The Capitals were 0-for-2 on the power play, dropping them to 2-for-23 this season. They have gone five games without scoring with the extra man.

Up next The Capitals host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. The Lightning host Nashville on Monday night.

Regular Season Series

TB leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 5:27 Mitchell Chaffee Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Nick Paul (6), Michael Eyssimont (1)
Goal 3rd Period 2:26 Brayden Point Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (6)
Goal 3rd Period 3:10 Conor Geekie Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Anthony Cirelli (9), Brandon Hagel (4)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
16 Blocked Shots 19
30 Hits 12
3 Takeaways 7
32 Shots 21
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
35 Faceoffs Won 25
58.3 Faceoff Win Percent 41.7
15 Giveaways 14
5 Total Penalties 4
13 Penalty Minutes 11

Game Information

Amalie Arena

Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 14 5 28 0
New Jersey 13 7 28 2
Washington 13 5 27 1
NY Rangers 12 5 25 1
NY Islanders 7 8 19 5
Columbus 8 9 18 2
Philadelphia 8 10 18 2
Pittsburgh 7 11 18 4

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 12 6 26 2
Florida 12 7 25 1
Tampa Bay 10 6 22 2
Buffalo 10 9 21 1
Boston 9 9 21 3
Detroit 8 9 18 2
Ottawa 8 10 17 1
Montreal 7 10 16 2
Full Standings