Last week, the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning faced off with the Southeast Division on the line. In his first game with the Lightning after being traded from the New York Islanders, Dwayne Roloson shut out the Caps en route to giving Tampa Bay the Southeast Division lead.
One week later, it was the same result.
In his home debut, Dwayne Roloson shut out the Capitals once again, stopping 23 shots in a 3-0 win which gives the Lightning the division lead.
One night after coming back form a 3-0 deficit to force overtime against the Florida Panthers, the Capitals could not work that same magic. Washington failed to get any offensive flow, firing shots from the point that were standard saves for Roloson. The Capitals alsd had two power play chances, but Alex Ovechkin negated one of them quickly after taking a penalty in retaliation of a hit placed upon him.
Dominic Moore, Sean Bergenheim and Simon Gagne scored for the Lightning, who have defeated the Capitals by a combined score of 4-0 in their last two meetings. In the first two meetings, the Capitals outscored the Lightning 12-3 in two wins at Verizon Center.
Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves and single-handedly kept the Capitals within striking distance. Unfortunately, the Capitals failed to strike at all.
It was Washington's first regulation loss since December 18, which was the final game of their eight-game losing streak. The Capitals are now 6-1-3 in their last 10 games and will head home for two games this weekend, starting Friday when they host the NHL-best Vancouver Canucks at Verizon Center.