Tampa Bay @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 14, 2019 ) Washington 5, Tampa Bay 2

The Tampa Bay Lightning let a point slip out of their hands last time out and it won’t be easy to get that one back when they visit the NHL-best Washington Capitals on Saturday night for the third meeting in 22 days between the Eastern Conference heavyweights. The Lightning finished with a 48-20 edge in shots and held a two-goal lead in the second period, but never put the game away and suffered a 4-3 overtime setback against Dallas on Thursday.

Tampa Bay is 5-3-1 in its last nine outings, owning games in hand on everyone above as it tries to climb toward second place in the Atlantic Division, and coach Jon Cooper told reporters: “We feel pretty good about our game, and if we continue to play the way we’re playing right now, it’ll start being two points instead of one.” The Lightning coughed up a two-goal lead in the third period of an overtime loss at Washington on Nov. 29 and gave up four in the final 20 minutes last Saturday in a 5-2 defeat against the Capitals. Washington rebounded from a 3-0 loss at Columbus on Monday to pull away from New Jersey 6-3 as center Nicklas Backstrom registered two goals and two assists to reach 900 points in his career. “I think we’re never satisfied losing games,” Backstrom told reporters. “So it’s always good that we bounce back right away and get points because I feel like this is what it’s all about.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (17-12-4): Left wings Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn each scored their 10th goal Thursday to give the club five players in double figures while right wing Nikita Kucherov (199 career goals) had an assist to maintain his lead in points with 36. Captain Steven Stamkos has cooled off with one point (an assist) in his last three games after recording six goals in a four-game stretch and defenseman Victor Hedman has two assists in six games after scoring in three straight contests. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy struggled Thursday (four goals, 20 shots) and could be due for a rest in favor of Curtis McElhinney (3-3-2, .898 save percentage).

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (25-6-5): Defenseman John Carlson continues to pad his Norris Trophy resume with four of his team-leading 47 points in the last four games and tied for the league lead with his sixth game-winning goal Friday. Captain Alex Ovechkin recorded his team-high 22nd goal along with an assist in Friday’s triumph after enduring a three-game point drought while linemate Tom Wilson added a pair of assists. Backstrom’s 661 assists are 95 more than any other Washington player and he also holds the team record with a plus-120 rating as Carlson sits third behind Rod Langway (plus-116) at plus-101 while Backstrom's 900 points are second only to Ovechkin (1,246) in franchise history.

OVERTIME

1. Washington G Braden Holtby (16-4-4, .909 SP) was rested Friday and is expected to go after his fourth straight victory Saturday.

2. Tampa Bay D Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and an assist Thursday for his first multi-point game since opening night.

3. The Lightning are 5-for-12 on the power play the last four games and the Capitals have killed 24-of-26 the past eight contests.

PREDICTION: Capitals 5, Lightning 3