The streak had to end sometime.
The Capitals hadn’t lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in more than two years — a span of 12 games that set a franchise record against a single opponent. On Tuesday night, Tampa finally ended that frustrating run of futility with a 7-4 victory over Washington at St. Pete Times Forum.
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Second-year center Steven Stamkos scored twice and fellow center Vincent Lecavalier added a goal and an assist as the Lightning looked sharp from the start. Tampa Bay scored four of the game’s first five goals and knocked Caps rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth out of the game after the first period.
Washington rallied in a dominating second period when it outshot the Lightning 16-5. Mike Green scored his 11th goal of the year on the power play and teammate Eric Fehr (11) followed with another in the second to close the gap. Green added his second of the night at 12 minutes, 8 seconds of the period to tie the game at 4.
But the rally was short lived. With just 85 seconds left in the second, longtime nemesis Martin St. Louis beat Caps goalie Jose Theodore on the power play to put his team back in front. Kurtis Foster and Potomac, Md. native — and former Caps captain — Jeff Halpern put things out of reach with goals in the third period.
Washington has been a disciplined team in recent weeks. Not so on Tuesday as the Lightning took advantage of the man-advantage with four power-play goals on seven opportunities.
Neuvirth was starting for the eighth time in 10 games. But the 21-year-old had one of the poorest starts of his young career, stopping just 11 of 15 shots in the first period. The Caps were good with the man-advantage, too, scoring twice in three chances. But it wasn’t enough.
