Lightning Held in Check
Bradley, Steckel, Laing Help Caps Snap Three-Game Skid: Capitals 3, Lightning 2

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 27, 2007

The primary objective of Matt Bradley, David Steckel and Quintin Laing -- the Washington Capitals' checking line -- is to prevent goals. But last night, the unit's biggest contribution came in the offensive zone.

Bradley deflected the decisive goal past Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Karri Ramo with 2 minutes 53 seconds remaining to cap a big night for the grinders and lift the Capitals to a 3-2 victory at Verizon Center.

The victory ended a three-game slide and gave Bruce Boudreau a win in his first day as a full-time NHL coach.

"I thought we deserved the win," Boudreau said. "We didn't score the first goal, but we kept on coming and coming and we were rewarded."

The Capitals twice fell behind on goals by Vincent Lecavalier, but the checking unit came through by doing what it does best: crashing the net and creating havoc. Steckel finished with a goal and two assists, and Bradley and Laing chipped in with an assist each.

Steckel initiated the winning play when he fired a shot from just inside the blueline. The puck hit Ramo and deflected up in the air. Bradley, who was battling for position at the edge of the crease, reached around Martin St. Louis and got just enough of the puck on its way down to send it pinballing into the net. (The play was reviewed.)

"I'm just lucky the puck hit my stick instead of his," Bradley said of St. Louis. "It made up for the one in the second period that I missed."

Bradley's goal, his second this season and first since Oct. 29, also allowed Boudreau to celebrate properly. Earlier in the day, the Capitals dropped the "interim" from his title. He's now 8-5-3 since replacing Glen Hanlon on Nov. 22.

"It's a great reward for me," Boudreau said. "It was fabulous."

The game was the Capitals' first after a three-day break for the holidays. The rest apparently did them some good, as they played with considerably more energy than they displayed in their previous game, a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday in which they were outshot 31-16.

"We had three days rest, and we wanted to make a bold statement," Steckel said. "And we did that."

Last night, they held a 32-20 edge in shots.

Lightning Coach John Tortorella described his team's performance thus: "We're a [expletive] hockey team right now."

Tampa Bay, though, didn't look so bad early on.

Lecavalier beat Olie Kolzig with a long wrist shot off a juicy rebound. Alex Ovechkin (who had an assist) and Viktor Kozlov failed to gain control of the puck before Lecavalier pounced and buried it just 5:43 into the contest.

But Steckel's gritty goal at 16:11 of the first pulled the Capitals even. The lanky center knocked in his own rebound after Ramo stopped his first attempt with a pad save.

In the second period, Lecavalier struck again to put the Lightning ahead 2-1 at 9:49 after firing from the middle of the circle and beating Kolzig's blocker.

With the Capitals continuing to put pressure on Ramo and the Lightning, Pothier eventually tied the score at 2 at 17:42 to send the game into the third period deadlocked.

"Ovechkin can't score every night," Laing said. "You need other guys to step up now and then. Tonight was our night."

Capitals Notes: Prospect Eric Fehr, out since February because of a mysterious hip ailment, could suit up for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League as soon as next month, General Manager George McPhee said. . . . Right wing Chris Clark missed his 12th consecutive game last night because of a strained groin muscle. . . . Bob Woods was named the Bears' coach yesterday.