Just as the Capitals and Penguins played to a scoreless first period in the NHL Winter Classic on Saturday night, our home team and their Southeast Division rival Tampa Bay Lightning have no goals after 20 minutes of action.

The Capitals have dominated the season series against the Lightning so far this season, but that was before Steven Stamkos went on his recent tear. The two teams appear to be feeling each other out as fairly few legitimate scoring opportunities came about in the first period. Each team has had one power play, and each team has killed one power play.

The Lightning pounded Semyon Varlamov with 12 shots on goal in the first period of the goaltender's fourth straight NHL start, while the Capitals managed only five shots on the net of recently acquired Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Tonight is the veteran Roloson's first game with Tampa Bay, and the Capitals will have to test him with more shots if they want to capture the Southeast Division lead tonight.