It took over an hour to get the zeros off the scoreboard. In the end, it was Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning who was able to score and help his team grab the lead in the Southeast Division.

This game really couldn't have been much closer. You could say that the Capitals ran into a hot goalie once again in Dwayne Roloson, who was getting his first ever start as a member of the Lightning, but Semyon Varlamov was pretty darn hot for Washington as well. The Tampa Bay goaltender turned away all 38 shots that he faced, while it was the 35th shot from the Lightning that beat Varlamov.

The gamewinner was the result of a rebound off a Vincent Lecavalier shot. The puck bounced off Varlamov's right pad and straight to St. Louis, who made no mistake in putting the puck past his marker Tom Poti and into the net with Varlamov still out of position.

It would be hard to blame Varlamov for the loss though. He was excellent. Varlamov was making his fourth-straight start for the Capitals, and if he keeps making performances like this one, he may not give up the starting job anytime soon.

The Capitals get a few days off to recover before beginning a home-and-home series against the Florida Panthers. The Capitals will host the Panthers at Verizon Center on Saturday, before traveling to Florida next Tuesday.