The Lightning made some personnel changes to their power play before Friday’s game at Washington, hoping a new look would give the team a spark on the man-advantage.
But the same problems haunted the Lightning against the Capitals at Capital One Arena. They couldn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities in the offensive zone or on the power play and continued to leak oil in their end in a 5-1 loss.
A bone-rattling shoulder-to-head hit on Cal Foote that forced the Tampa Bay defenseman from the game, and Pat Maroon’s retaliatory fight, should have energizes the Lightning (7-6-1). Instead, they continued to sink into their special-teams rut.
With the Lightning trailing 1-0, Capitals forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel laid out Foote in open ice, drawing a five-minute match penalty. As officials reviewed the severity of the hit, Maroon went after Garnet Hathaway in retaliation, sending both players to the box for 15 minutes with fighting majors and misconduct penalties.
Aube-Kubel’s hit gave the Lightning a five-minute power play, and his ejection forced the Caps to play down a forward the rest of the game. Tampa Bay had five scoring chances on the power play and four shots on goal but couldn’t score.
Just as the power play expired, Capitals defenseman John Carlson sent the puck up the ice to Sonny Milano as he exited the penalty box, creating a breakaway. Milano beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to give Washington a 2-0 lead.
Milano’s goal was at even strength but was a result of the Lightning power-play unit getting caught in its own end again. Tampa Bay entered the night having allowed three shorthanded goals over a four-game stretch and four in all this season.
The Lightning made several changes to their top group, most notably elevating Mikhail Sergachev and moving Victor Hedman to the second unit. The team also promoted Brandon Hagel to the first group.
Through two periods, the Lightning had 10 power-play scoring opportunities in 6:51 of man-advantage time but no goals to show for it. After an 0-for-3 night, Tampa Bay is now 5 for 35 on the power play over the past nine games.
By the end of the night, the Lightning — who created 13 scoring chances in 8:51 of power-play time — had Hedman back on the top unit.
Tampa Bay again allowed wide-open looks in its own end, and it hurt them. The Caps’ first goal came when Lars Eller found Anthony Mantha uncovered along the far post in the first period. Washington went up 3-0 in the second when Aliaksei Protas beat everyone to his own rebound in front of the net and buried it.
The Capitals caught the Lightning on a line change early in the third period, creating a 2-on-1 rush. Hedman couldn’t catch up with Conor Sheary coming off the bench, and Sheary beat Vasilevskiy.
Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who got the best of the Lightning in last season’s Stanley Cup Final while playing for Colorado, stopped the first 26 shots of the night before Nick Perbix’s shot went through with 7:51 left to play.
Steven Stamkos deflected a puck into his own goal while trying to break up a pass in front of the Lightning net to make the score 5-1. The goal was credited to Milano.
