Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals visited the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.  The Capitals will now have a 3-game homestand that will begin on Tuesday night when they face the Calgary Flames.  Tuesday’s game will be Braden Holtby Bobblehead night.  Puck drop will be at 7 PM. 

CAPITALS @ LIGHTNING LINE COMBINATIONS

BARRY TROTZ DEEMED THIS A “MUST WIN”

Barry Trotz called this game a “must-win” for the Capitals. Said the team’s record in the past 10 games is “unacceptable.”

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) March 18, 2017

QUICK NOTES

-Andre Burakovsky made his long anticipated return to the lineup.  His last appearance was on February 9.
-Goaltending matchup: Braden Holtby vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy.
-Heading into this game, the Capitals are 6-6-2 since the bye week.

FIRST PERIOD
-Tampa Bay took an early minor penalty for too many men on the ice.  T.J. Oshie would make the Lightning pay on the powerplay.  This was Oshie’s 27th goal of the season, which sets a career-high for goals in a season for him.

Tic-Tac-Top shelf #CapsBolts on @csnma pic.twitter.com/xTO4pQIJKs

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 18, 2017

-Later in the period, T.J. Oshie scored his 2nd goal of the period and his 28th goal of the season off a beautiful feed from Alex Ovechkin.

Casual sauce from the #Gr8 to set up TJ with his 2nd of the game #CapsBolts on @csnma pic.twitter.com/FxJ8TEv5lb

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 18, 2017

-With just over 4 minutes left in the period, Nikita Kucherov tallied a powerplay goal, which cut the Capitals lead to 2-1.  It was Kucherov’s 32nd goal of the season.

-16 seconds later, Alex Killorn would tie the game for the Bolts.
-Marcus Johansson left the game early in the period due to an “illness.”

SECOND PERIOD
-After an eventful first period, there was no scoring in the 2nd period.

THIRD PERIOD
-The Capitals got an early powerplay in the period.  Right after the Capitals powerplay expired, Matt Niskanen fired a huge slapshot from the blueline that was deflected by Justin Williams.  The Capitals took a 3-2 lead and took advantage of Tampa’s tired penalty killers.

Blast from the point #CapsBolts on @csnma pic.twitter.com/SHflg1GKfD

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 19, 2017

-John Carlson tallied his 8th goal of the season just as the Capitals were about to go to the man advantage again.  The Capitals took a 4-2 lead.

That’s some ✋👀 coordination from @JohnCarlson74 there #CapsBolts on @csnma pic.twitter.com/sDXdCNvQIL

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 19, 2017

-With 90 seconds remaining, Nikita Kucherov tallied his 33rd goal of the season.

-With 43 seconds remaining, the hats came down for T.J. Oshie.  He tallied his 3rd goal of the game with an “ally-oop” into the Lightning empty net.  It is his 29th goal of the season.

EXTRAS: SPRING WEATHER MAKES US JELLY…

Don’t know who this is, but I want to fight him. Check out the forecast facewash lower right. C’mon man. pic.twitter.com/eBgpzSXPWY

— John Walton (@WaltonCaps) March 18, 2017

Thank you for rubbing it in, Mr. Tampa Weatherman.  Hopefully D.C. warms up soon… like real soon.

By: George Foussekis