Caps Again Lose Shootout

Tampa Bay Scores in the 10th Round of the Tiebreaker : Lightning 5, Capitals 4

Tampa Bay's Nick Tarnasky celebrates his game-winning goal as Washington goalie Brent Johnson looks on Thursday. (Nick Wass - AP)

Jiri Novotny had heard how bad the Washington Capitals were in the shootout. Last night, the club's newest acquisition found out firsthand.

Novotny misfired on his attempt -- as did the other nine Capitals shooters in the tiebreaker, which allowed Johan Holmqvist and the Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning to rally for a 5-4 victory at Verizon Center. Lightning grinder Nick Tarnasky scored the winner in the 10th round as the visitors improved to 10-1 in games decided in the shootout; the Capitals, meantime, dropped to 1-10.

"I heard the guys joking before the game, saying, 'Will you be ready for shootout?' " said Novotny, who came to Washington from Buffalo along with a first-round draft pick on Tuesday in exchange for Dainius Zubrus. "Again we got to shootout, and again we lose in shootout. Sometimes, it's a little bit luck."

Holmqvist may have had something to do with it, as well. The Lightning goaltender has stopped 26 of the 27 shots he's faced this season in the tiebreaker and has a 6-0 record. The Capitals, meantime, lost in the shootout for the second consecutive game and fifth time since Feb. 6.

"The confidence is there," Holmqvist said. "I don't really have an answer for it. Just trying to find good timing on the players."

Capitals goaltender Brent Johnson was at a loss for words to explain yet another failure in the shootout.

"It's unexplainable," said Johnson, who stopped 25 shots in regulation and overtime. "The shootout is great for fans, but not for us. We haven't been rewarded. It's unbelievable. All you can do is shake your head."

And the Capitals may have suffered injury to their insult. Checking-line forwards Matt Pettinger and Boyd Gordon both left in the third period with undisclosed injuries and did not return. A team spokesman said an update on their conditions would be provided today at practice.

Pettinger likely would have had a spot in Coach Glen Hanlon's revamped shootout lineup. Ovechkin, who scored his 38th goal in the second period but has struggled in the tiebreaker (1 of 11 this season), was not among the Capitals' first three shooters for the first time in his career.

"We tried to do something different," Hanlon said. "It's not an excuse, but you have two guys who are 35-goal scorers [Ovechkin and Alexander Semin] and then your next goal-scorer has seven. I felt it would give [Ovechkin] a bit of a break and take some pressure off him a bit."

It didn't work. Semin also misfired, and 15 shooters later, Tarnasky (five points this season) capped a crazy penalty shot competition, which followed a frantic finish in regulation.

Semin had forced overtime by scoring with 10.9 seconds remaining with the Capitals enjoying a rare six-on-three power play (they had a two-man advantage and pulled the goalie) for the final 1 minute 3 seconds of regulation. Semin fired a puck toward Holmqvist (23 saves), and on its way through the crease, it hit Tampa Bay defenseman Nolan Pratt and deflected into the net, tying the game at 4.

Just moments earlier, Martin St. Louis appeared to clinch a victory for the Lightning when he completed a perfect give-and-go with Vincent Lecavalier, who returned the puck as St. Louis streaked down the slot. The diminutive winger flipped the puck over with 3:18 left to play -- it was the Lightning's third consecutive goal -- and put the visitors ahead 4-3.

Earlier in the period, Lecavalier extended his league lead in goals with his 42nd, tying the score at 3 with a short-handed goal. After the puck hopped over Brian Pothier's stick at the point, St. Louis out-skated the Capitals' defenseman to retrieve it deep in Washington's zone. There, he zipped a cross-ice pass to a trailing Lecavalier, who fired a wrist shot over Johnson's glove.

The victory was the Lightning's seventh in its past 10 games. The Capitals lost for their eighth time in nine games (1-4-4).

Shaone Morrisonn, Pettinger and Ovechkin also scored for the Capitals, while Vaclav Prospal and Ruslan Fedotenko scored the Lightning's first two goals.

"The goalies did well," in the shootout, Lightning center Brad Richards said. "It's too bad it's got to end like that, but we'll take the extra point right now. We need it for sure."

Capitals Notes: Ovechkin was named an alternate captain. He wore an 'A' on his jersey four times in November. . . . Eric Fehr has been assigned to Hershey (Pa.) of the American Hockey League, but will remain in Washington to receive treatment on his ailing back.