|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Peter Bondra continues to haunt the Tampa Bay
Lightning.
Bondra snapped a tie with the first of Washington's three
third-period goals as the Capitals beat Tampa Bay 5-2 Tuesday
night, sending the Lightning to their seventh straight defeat.
The veteran left wing has 34 goals in 36 career games against
Tampa Bay, which has lost 11 of 12. With Lightning center Ryan
Johnson off for slashing, Bondra gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead with
6:06 remaining -- scoring his 24th goal.
"We won the face-off. It came to me. I ripped it on net,"
Bondra said. "I was kind of lucky. It was exciting."
Chris Simon made it 4-2 with 3:30 left, and Jeff Halpern added
an empty-net goal two minutes later.
"We talk about the little things, and then they get three goals
off face-offs," said Lightning coach John Tortorella, 1-8 since
replacing Steve Ludzik on Jan. 6. "It was all for naught."
Capitals defenseman Brendan Witt opened the scoring in the third
minute with his first goal in 72 games. His shot deflected off the
ankle of Tampa Bay's Alexander Kharitonov and past goalie Kevin
Weekes.
Rookie Nils Ekman tied it at 5:14, but Washington made it 2-1
eight minutes later on a backhander by Richard Zednik.
Martin St. Louis pulled Tampa Bay even at 2, redirecting a
midair rebound off the glass behind goalie Olaf Kolzig at 2:33 of
the second period.
Kolzig finished with 27 saves. Weekes had 28.
Washington, three points ahead of Carolina atop the Southeast
Division, came in with five losses in its last six road games and
had lost four of five overall.
"Right now we're a little out of sync -- it shows. Not everyone's
on top of their game," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said. "It was a
couple of things that we were really good at that got the job
done."
Game notes
Tampa Bay traded defenseman Bryan Muir to Colorado for an
eighth-round pick in the upcoming draft. ... Craig Ramsay, fired as
Philadelphia coach after a 12-12-4 start this season, debuted as a
Tampa Bay associate coach. ... Tortorella is 0-3 at home. ... Tampa
Bay defenseman Craig Millar played for the first time since fracturing a
kneecap Dec. 14 at Phoenix. ... Lightning defenseman Sergey Gusev left the
game with a low-grade concussion.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
RECAPS
Columbus 2
Buffalo 1
St. Louis 5
Montreal 2
Ottawa 3
NY Islanders 2
Washington 5
Tampa Bay 2
Nashville 4
Atlanta 3
Phoenix 4
Calgary 2
|
