The Washington Capitals were in great shape against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second period. Then, it all went away. The Lightning scored three straight goals to get a 4-2 victory in Game 1 of their 2011 NHL Playoffs first-round series.
The Capitals led 2-1 in the second period, but then Scott Hannan surrendered an own goal, Steven Stamoks scored and the Lightning tacked on an empty-net goal with 40 seconds remaining to clinch it. Alexander Semin and Eric Fehr scored the two Capitals goals.
The Capitals got a chance with 14:02 remaining when Brent Clark held the stick of Jason Arnott, but got absolutely nothing going on the power play, not even getting a shot off. The Lightning got a number of chances themselves, but couldn't convert. With 9:27 remaining, Nicklas Backstrom had a one-timer shot in the slot, but he pushed it wide. The Capitals went on a power play with 5:58 remaining after a penalty, but got nothing going and never really threatened much after that.
The Capitals outshot the Lightning, 28-24, but most of those shots came very early in the game. For the final period and a half, the Lightning completely outplayed the Capitals. Game 2 is Sunday night at 7 p.m.