Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning settled in after an opening-night rout, beating the Washington Capitals 3-1 at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday.
Jake Guentzel supplied a goal and an assist, while Brandon Hagel set up Tampa Bay’s first two goals. The Lightning moved to 1-1-0 after dropping their opener 5-1 to the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Washington, coming off a 5-2 opening win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, also stands at 1-1-0. Charlie Lindgren turned aside 27 shots for the Capitals.
After the horn
Charle-Edouard D’Astous put Tampa Bay ahead 2:26 into the first period. Hagel found him high in the right circle, and D’Astous snapped a short-side shot over Lindgren’s blocker.
The Lightning doubled the margin late in the opening frame. At 16:30, Hagel fed Conor Geekie in the right circle, where Geekie drove a one-timer past Lindgren on the stick side for a 2-0 lead.
Washington got back within a goal at 7:04 of the second. Jakob Chychrun sent a puck in from the point and Justin Sourdif, stationed in the slot, redirected it beyond Vasilevskiy.
The Capitals could not find the tying goal, and Guentzel finished the night into an empty net with 2:05 remaining. Nikita Kucherov delivered the pass for Guentzel’s insurance marker, with John Carlson collecting an assist in his first game against his former club.
| Team | First | Second | Third | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Capitals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
