Turnovers and penalties proved too costly once again for the Lightning in a 4-3 loss in Washington on Wednesday night.
It’s the fifth three-game losing streak of the season for Tampa Bay. The Lightning finished 2-1 in the regular-season series against Washington.
With the loss, the Lightning (43-20-7) drop to fourth in the Atlantic Division with 93 points behind Boston (44-21-5). The Bruins also have 93 points but hold the tiebreaker with more regulation wins. Florida (49-15-6) leads the division with 104 points, having clinched a postseason spot on Sunday, and Toronto (45-19-6) is second at 96.
Here are three things we learned from Wednesday’s game:
Early pressure from Nikita Kucherov pays off
It was only appropriate that Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring for the Lightning against the Capitals.
With 11:23 remaining in the first period, Brayden Point shoveled the puck out of the corner to Victor Hedman at the blueline.
The Lightning defenseman kept the puck in the zone by backhanding the puck out into the top of the slot where Kucherov stepped in and swung a shot on Ilya Samsonov to cut the Capitals’ lead to 2-1 with 11:19 remaining in the first.
Kucherov logged a game-high three shots on goal by the end of the period. He did not record a shot on goal the rest of the night.
With the goal, Kucherov extended his point streak to six games, a season high for him.
Nick Paul continues to impress
Forward Nick Paul netted his second goal with the Lightning since his March 21 trade from Ottawa.
In the first period, defenseman Jan Rutta battled for the puck in the neutral zone, shuffling it out to Steven Stamkos, who was standing along the blueline.
Stamkos quickly put the puck out into the open ice before Washington forward Tom Wilson and defenseman Nick Jensen sandwiched the captain along the glass.
Paul then intercepted the puck, taking it to the top of the slot before firing off a shot toward goaltender Samsonov. The shot slipped past Samsonov, cutting the Lightning’s deficit to 3-2 with 3:29 remaining in the first.
The goal was Paul’s 13th of the season and his sixth point since joining Tampa Bay.
Forward lines in a blender again
With the Lightning’s recent rut, coach Jon Cooper and his staff changed up the lines at Tuesday’s practice before facing the Capitals. They kept those same lines to start Wednesday’s game.
Against Washington, Ondrej Palat moved up to the top line with Point and Kucherov, sending Stamkos to the second line with Brandon Hagel and Ross Colton. The lines shifted from the 6-2 loss against Toronto on Monday, which saw Stamkos on the top line with Point and Kucherov.
Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn skated alongside Nick Paul instead of Palat on the team’s third line against the Capitals. Later in the game, trailing by two goals in the third period, Hagel and Paul switched lines.
Meanwhile, the “school bus” line of Bellemare, Pat Maroon and Corey Perry remained intact.
