Takeaways: Ugly Start Dooms Capitlas In Loss To Lightning

WASHINGTON — It took the Washington Capitals quite a bit of time to show up to play on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

What looked like a strong start just over a minute in went downhill — quickly — and despite a furious rally, they couldn't recover fully in a 5-3 loss.

Here are the takeaways:

Justin Sourdif got on the board just 1:06 into the game, firing home a rebound off a point shot from Tom Wilson. However, from that point on, things took an ugly turn.

It started with special teams; as the Capitals went to the power play, their 5-on-4 work was shut down quickly, and instead, Brandon Hagel got hold of the puck and sped down the ice before sniping a quick shot past Logan Thompson to tie the game at 1.

Shortly after, the Capitals went on the penalty kill, and Tampa did more damage, with Oliver Bjorkstrand scoring on the rebound to make it a 2-1 game. It marked the sixth straight game that the Capitals have given up a goal on the PK.

Later in the frame, Hagel struck again, jumping on a rolling puck in the slot, and then found Nikita Kucherov on the breakaway to make things 4-1.

That ended Thompson's night in net, as he gave up four goals in the first six shots faced. Charlie Lindgren took over in relief.

While the Capitals had three other power-play chances to get back in the game, they didn't score on any of them and finished the night 0-for-6 as it continues to struggle throughout the season.

In the second period, Jakob Chychrun got the Capitals back within two, as his bid went off Gage Concalves' skate and past Jonas Johansson to pull D.C. to 4-2. Chychrun is now on a seven-game point streak.

Washington upped the pressure, and later in the second, Tom Wilson did something else to spark his team, dropping the gloves with 6-foot-9 center Curtis Douglas and taking him down in a decisive win.

That sparked a furious comeback attempt for the Capitals in the third, with Ethen Frank scoring his third goal in the last two games to make it a 4-3 game.

It was a furious rally until the end, but ultimately, Johansson held things down, and the Capitals couldn't complete the comeback as Anthony Cirelli iced the game late.