Lightning Vs Capitals 03/27/2009 Review

Brian Pothier celebrates his first goal since returning from concussion.
March 27, 2009 photo by Luis M. Alvarez / AP Photo.

Lightning 3 - Capitals 5

The Washington Capitals returned to their winning ways in their victory over a very chippy Tampa Bay Lightning last night. Defenseman Brian Pothier, recently returned from a 14 month absence due to concussion struggles, showed he could still contribute to the highly talented Capitals.

Washington came into the game number two in the NHL for power play success. They reminded goalie Mike McKenna and the Lightning of this fact during the first 20 minutes. The first three goals by the Caps came while on the PP in the first period. Alex Ovechkin netted his 52nd to get things rolling at 6:49. Martin StLouis scored the Lightning's only goal of the first, but only after Nicklas Backstrom hit the 20 goal plateau a few minutes prior. Then a few minutes after StLouis' strike, Backstrom showed quick reflexes while potting the rebound from a Mike Green shot for number 21 on the season.

Tampa Bay rookie Steven Stamkos found the back of the net late in the second period for his 19 goal of the season, then early in the third, Vinnie Prospal put his 19th past Washington netminder Jose Theodore. With the score tied for the first time in the game, 3-3 after Prospal's goal, an unlikely Washington player stepped up to put the Capitals back ahead for good. At 4:30 into the third period, Brian Pothier slapped in a loose puck through traffic from the point. The goal is Pothier's first since December 27, 2007, one week before suffering the concussion that caused him to miss the next 111 games. The fifth and final goal was an empty netter scored by Alex Ovechkin (53 Goals) seven seconds before the game ended, giving 100 points on the season. Ovechkin now has at least 100 points in three of his first four seasons.

The Caps played extremely well in their 10th straight win vs the Lightning, and four players had a multiple point game. Ovechkin (2 G, 2 A) had points, while Backstrom (2 G, 1 A) and Brooks Laich (3 A) got three each. Green (2 A) ended up with two. Backstrom also managed to win 14 out of 16 faceoffs (87.5%). He was, as they say, "on fire".

Tampa Bay gave it their all, but committing 10 penalties vs Washington's 5 didn't help. The on ice officials ruling in this game overlooked an awful lot too, and seemed to be giving the Lightning all the help they could. There were countless missed penalty calls on Tampa Bay and the non goal for Brooks Laich due to the infamous "incidental contact" B.S. as proof. While the Lightning weren't the only losers on the ice, the Capitals were definitely the winners.