Capitals Vs. Lightning: Washington Comeback Bid Falls Short In 2-1 Loss To Tampa Bay

In a game that went down to the wire, the Washington Capitals suffered a 2-1 defeat Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. On the heels of last night's victory against the Florida Panthers, the Capitals were looking to end this two night stretch in the state of Florida with consecutive wins. Unfortunately, the play of Tampa's prolific Steven Stamkos and goalie Mathieu Garon propelled the Lightning to the victory.

Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 40th goal of the season early in the second period, grabbing an errant pass and beating Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun on a breakaway to give Tampa a 2-0 lead. Tom Pyatt also scored for the Lightning, while Garon collected 23 saves.

Center Brooks Laich notched the only goal for the Capitals at the 9:31 mark of the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1, but that was as close as Washington would get on this night. If the Capitals had won, they would have moved into a tie with the Panthers for first place in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. Washington will look to rebound from this close loss when they travel to face the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night at the RBC Center.

For more on this game and all things Capitals hockey, please check out Japers' Rink. For a view from the other bench, please check out SB Nation's Tampa Bay Lightning blog Raw Charge. And for more on this and every NHL game, please check out the SB Nation NHL hub page.

Capitals Vs. Lightning Score Update: Capitals Behind 2-1 After 2nd Period

Trailing to Tampa Bay by a score of 1-0 after the first period of play, the Capitals found themselves in 2-0 hole after the Lightnings Steven Stamkos scored his 40th goal of the season early in the second. The Capitals managed to get on the board midway through the period behind Brooks Laich's goal that was assisted by Mathieu Perreault and Alexander Semin.

The Caps will have to turn up the heat on Tampa's goaltender Mathieu Garon if they are going to follow up last night's 2-1 win against the Panthers with another victory. With one period left in this tilt Tampa has 21 shots on goal to the Capitals 16. Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun is keeping his team in the game despite the slight disparity in shots on net. Both teams are struggling to convert on their power play chances, as Tampa is 0 for 3 and Washington is 0 for 2.

For more on this game and all things Capitals hockey, please check out Japers' Rink. For a view from the other bench, please check out SB Nation's Tampa Bay Lightning blog Raw Charge. And for more on this and every NHL game, please check out the SB Nation NHLhub page.

Capitals Vs. Lightning Score Update: Washington Trails 1-0 After First Period

The Washington Capitals traveled down to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Tampa Bay Times Forum in a Southeastern Division matchup. The Caps trail the Lightning after the first period of play 1-0. Tom Pyatt picked up his sixth goal of the season assisted by Teddy Purcell to give Tampa Bay the early lead.

The Caps only have eight shots on goal through the first period, but Mathieu Garon has been able to knock down all of Washington's shots. The Caps have also doubled up the Lightning in give aways, five to two. The Lightning have picked up twice as many penalty minutes already in the first period. The Caps will look to get some more shots on Garon in the second period and get one into the net.

For more on this game and all things Capitals hockey, please check out Japers' Rink. For a view from the other bench, please check out SB Nation's Tampa Bay Lightning blog Raw Charge. And for more on this and every NHL game, please check out the SB Nation NHL hub page.

Capitals Vs. Lightning: Game Time, TV Schedule, Radio Stream And More

The Washington Capitals will be looking to even the season series against a Southeast Division foe, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Saturday night (7 p.m. on CSN). The Capitals (29-23-5) are coming off a come-from-behind victory, 2-1, Friday against the Florida Panthers, who had a 1-0 lead heading into the third period but lost.

Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin each tallied goals in the final period Friday, and will both try to help the Capitals even the season series against the host Lightning (25-26-6) at two games apiece. On Jan. 31, Tampa Bay defeated Washington, 4-3, at the Tampa Bay Times Form.

This will be the game No. 4 of 6 between these two teams this year.

For those fans who'd like to watch or listen to the game, here's the game time, TV and radio information:

Location: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa Bay, FL

Game Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV schedule: Comcast Sports Network

Capitals radio: 1500 AM

Betting odds: Tampa Bay (-114)

For more on this game and all things Capitals hockey, please check out Japers' Rink. For a view from the other bench, please check out SB Nation's Tampa Bay Lightning blog Raw Charge. And for more on this and every NHL game, please check out the SB Nation NHL hub page.

Capitals Vs. Lightning: Washington Visits Tampa Bay In Southeast Division Contest

The Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning meeting for the four time this season at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (7 p.m. ET on CSN).