Capitals Fall in last game of home stand

By: Justin Creech
Washington, DC—One night after clinching their third straight Southeast Division championship, Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau chastised his team for their lack of effort.
Boudreau’s criticism was well placed.

The Capitals were largely outworked by the Lightning, including a long stretch that went from the middle of the second period in to the third period in which the Lightning grabbed a two goal lead and ultimately held on for a 3-2 win at Verizon Center.

The loss was the second in the Capitals last three home games after winning a franchise record 13 straight on home ice, and prevented the Capitals from becoming the first team to pass 100 points this season.

“Once they started to believe they could win they won every battle and they outworked us,” said Boudreau of his team’s effort. “You’re not going to win if you don’t work hard. I don’t care who you are.”

The Capitals outshot the Lightning 13-0 over the first 11:30 of the second period including consecutive power plays, but were unable to penetrate Lightning netminder Antero Nittymaki, who finished with 28 saves.

Lightning defenseman Matt Walker scored on Tampa Bay’s first shot of the period off a faceoff in the Capitals zone, then got a fluky goal from Captain Vincent Lecavalier on a shot from the point that deflected off of his shoulder passed netminder Semyon Varlamov for a 3-1 lead, and for all intents and purposes the game’s momentum.

“We were pushing pretty well I thought,” said Capitals forward Mike Knuble. “We had a good power play some good 5 on 5 shifts down there then they get a bang bang off the faceoff and that kind of deflated us a little bit then a fluky one off Vinny and all of a sudden you’re down two. It’s kind of what we do to teams, but I guess you can say we made a game of it, but overall we have to have a better effort.”

Asked after the game if he thought the Lightning were benefits of good goaltending and some fortunate bounches, Boudreau disagreed, saying luck had nothing to do with the his team’s loss.
“If you’re not working hard you’re not going to get one bounce off of you in the front of the net like Lecavalier did,” said Boudreau. “But he worked hard, so it bounced off of him. Did we do that enough? No, we didn’t do it enough.”

Brooks Laich pulled the Capitals to within one with 8:51 to go on a rebound of Mike Green’s point shot on the power play. It was Laich’s 21st goal of the season and the second power play goal of the game for the Capitals.

Laich’s goal, however, didn’t provide the spark the Capitals needed, and provided more food for thought as to whether or not the Capitals are going to be able to stay motivated the remainder of the regular season with such a big lead over the remainder of the Eastern Conference.

“We need to realize the playoffs are coming,” said Knuble. “You don’t just flip the switch because it’s a playoff game.”

Tomas Fleischmann got the Capitals off to a good start with a power play goal at 16:55 of the first period. After Knuble dug the back off of the rear boards, he sent a pass to Alex Ovechkin, who was waiting in the right circle. Ovechkin moved up the far boards before sending a cross-ice pass to Fleischmann, who got down on one knee before firing the one-timer passed Nittymaki.

The goal was Fleishcmann’s 20th of the season and second in as many games after scoring the game winner in overtime Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The lead, like many for the Capitals lately, didn’t last long.

Lightning forward Brandon Bochenski took a pass in the neutral zone from Todd Fedoruk and after skating in to the Capitals zone fired a shot over Varlamov’s right shoulder to tie the game at 1 with 48 seconds left in the first period.

The Capitals now embark on a four game road trip that starts with a nationally televised game on NBC Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks; a game that the Capitals would have liked to have headed in to with some momentum.

“They’re the best team in the West, so it will be quite a test for us,” said Boudreau. “It’s difficult enough to start a road trip on the heels of a win, and we didn’t do it. We have to dig deep tomorrow and we’ll have a good practice and get [to Chicago] and play better.”