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Pothier's Shot At Redemption Is a Winner
Washington's Brian Pothier celebrates his game-winning, third-period goal in Tampa Bay during the Capitals' 3-2 victory, a win which helps the team forget a late collapse against Buffalo at home on Friday night.
(Chris O'Meara - AP)
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Tampa Bay defenseman Paul Ranger put the Lightning ahead 1-0 with a slap shot that Johnson managed to get a piece of with his glove. But Johnson didn't control the puck, and it bounced up and over his arm before dribbling across the goal line 4:28 into the game.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]"It was a good goal," Johnson said. "It was through a screen; I just saw it at the last second. It's the second goal I'm upset about. I need to make that save. I need to get those little bits of mediocrity out of my game."
The Capitals had a chance to come right back when they were awarded a five-on-three power-play opportunity for 1:13. But Johan Holmqvist (30 saves) and the Lightning were up to the challenge.
Washington pulled even later in the first thanks to Fleischmann, who gathered a loose puck in front, made a nifty move and flipped the puck past Holmqvist, who had been pulled from each of his previous two starts, at 14:26.
The score remained tied at 1 until eight seconds into the second period, when Steckel raced into the Lightning zone, slammed on the brakes, then fired a sharp angle shot past Holmqvist.
Then came the goal that Johnson said he wanted another chance to stop. Lecavalier took a drop pass from Vaclav Prospal and rifled a shot between the goalie's pads from about 45 feet at 5:50 of the second to make 2-2.
The Capitals were granted another prime opportunity to take back the lead when Ovechkin took a two-handed stick to the face by Filip Kuba while circling the Lightning net. Kuba, a defenseman, was assessed a double minor because Ovechkin suffered a small cut near his nose. Ovechkin, though, started the power play and did not miss a shift. After the game his cheek and lip were swollen.
Washington failed to take advantage of the extra man. And, as a result, the game went into the third period deadlocked, 2-2. But Pothier took care of that, and Johnson and the penalty kill took it from there.
Friday night "we were in the same position but we let it get away," Steckel said. "But this time we went out and gave the extra effort."
Capitals Notes: Right wing Chris Clark (strained groin muscle) and center Boyd Gordon (broken right hand) each missed their eighth consecutive game. Both players remain on injured reserve and are not traveling with the team.
