Tampa Bay Lightning trails Washington Capitals 2-1 After Two Periods

The opening minutes of the second period looked much different for the Tampa Bay Lightning than the first period did. Players were shooting at almost every opportunity they had (almost) and they limited the amount of passes they were making. Still, there were missed opportunities.

The entire team did look re-energized and played with more intensity than they did in the first period. The best chance the Lightning had to score in the middle stanza came when Victor Hedman's slap shot was denied by Brayden Holtby. Holtby made the save on the shot and then St. Louis tried to put one past Holtby to no avail.
The Washington goaltender has stood tall throughout the game and has been in position for most offensive situations. There is no sign of the goaltender being tired although he has started three consecutive games.

At 5:09 of the second period, Capitals right winger Eric Fehr beat Mathieu Garon to break the 1-1 tie. On Fehr's goal, there were multiple breakdowns by the Lightning. After a skate save by Holtby, the Capitals easily got the puck through the neutral zone and had two players left alone in front of the net. Matt Carle clearly got beat to the puck, ending up in Fehr's tally.

The line of Tom Pyatt, Richard Panik, and Alex Killorn has been seeing the puck well tonight. The three seem to gel well together.

The Lightning had 12 shots in the second period with a game total of 18. The Capitals had 13 for a two period total of 25.

Tampa Bay Lightning Tied 1-1 With Capitals After First Period

The Tampa Bay Lightning looked rather sluggish in the opening period against the Washington Capitals, especially in the first few minutes of the period. Tampa Bay continued their struggles taking penalties when Victor Hedman took a penalty for holding at 1:42.

The Capitals converted on that man advantage with Troy Brouwer's tic-tac-toe play in the slot, making it a 1-0 game at 2:40. Mathieu Perrault and Niklas Backstrom had the assists on the Brouwer goal.

After the goal, Tampa continued to spend too much time in their own zone. Washington had seven shots at one point while Tampa Bay registered failed to register a shot until 6:51 of the first period.

Almost midway through the first period, the Lightning were able to get through the neutral zone and spend time in the offensive zone. Then, Marty St. Louis had multiple chances on Capitals net minder Brayden Holtby in the front of the net. Finally, St. Louis chipped one in at 8:23 to make it a 1-1 game. St. Louis's goal was his first in 11 games. He has four on the season with three of them coming against Washington.

The Lightning had more scoring chances towards the end of the first period including Teddy Purcell's wrist shot with 17:02 left. But, Holtby denied Purcell to keep the game tied.

The first period was also a physical one between the two teams. Tampa Bay had 11 hits while Washington had five.

At the end of the first period, The Capitals held the advantage in shots with 12 compared to the Lightning's 6.

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