Pothier's Shot At Redemption Is a Winner
Capitals 3, Lightning 2

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007

TAMPA, Dec. 15 -- Earlier this month, Brian Pothier was, by his own admission, struggling. It got so bad for the Washington Capitals' defenseman that Coach Bruce Boudreau scratched him from the lineup twice.

He redeemed himself Saturday night at St. Pete Times Forum.

Pothier scored a power-play goal early in the third period and the Capitals held on for a 3-2 victory over Vincent Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Pothier's goal and assist, coupled with a resilient performance by Brent Johnson in net as well as a goal and assist from Tomas Fleischmann, helped the Capitals secure their fourth win in five games and boost Boudreau's record to 7-4-1. It also snapped a four-game losing streak in Tampa.

"It was nice," Pothier said. "I had been struggling for 10 games or so. I ended up costing the team in New Jersey. I got scratched and came back and slowly gained my confidence back and start playing better tonight."

The win also helped the Capitals rebound from a poor performance against Buffalo at home on Friday. The Sabres won that game, 5-3, and afterward Boudreau questioned their level of effort.

He had no such qualms Saturday.

"It was important to show that we could bounce back," Boudreau said. "It was a team win. On a night where [Alex Ovechkin] said to me coming off the ice, 'It wasn't my night,' you know on a night like that, when everybody else can step up, that's an indicator of becoming a good team."

The Capitals also received some help at key times from the special teams units. The penalty kill, led by forwards Matt Pettinger, Quintin Laing and David Steckel, snuffed out all four of the Lightning's power-play opportunities. The unit has not allowed a score in four games.

"Our power play stinks, theirs scores a goal," Tampa Bay Lightning Coach John Tortorella said.

Pettinger and Steckel also contributed offensively. Pettinger set up Pothier's goal by circling the net before dishing the defenseman the puck. Steckel got his second goal of the season eight seconds into the second period.

Johnson, making his first start since defeating the Panthers in Florida on Dec. 1, yielded a goal on Tampa Bay's third shot and another he later said he should have stopped. But the seldom-used netminder turned aside all seven shots he faced in the third to hang on for his second straight win. He finished with 23 saves.

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.

"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.