Feb 17, 2008 - 12:45 AM
0 shoutsTAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Alexander Semin snapped a tie with three minutes remaining in the third period and Olaf Kolzig stopped 39 shots as the Washington Capitals posted a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
It was a wild finish to a game that was, for the most part, dominated by Kolzig.
The former Vezina Trophy winner made 24 of his saves in the second period alone but was was beaten twice in a 33-second span late in the third.
"It seems like we say it every game - 'Don't ever leave games early,'" Kolzig said of the frantic finish. "I think from a fan's point of view, it had to be a pretty exciting hockey game. It was the fastest second period I think I've ever experienced. ... I think both teams played really well tonight."
Washington gained a 1-0 advantage on Tomas Fleischmann's power-play goal in the opening period, a tally that stood until the latter half of the third.
After a scoreless middle session, the third was action-packed. David Steckel doubled Washington's lead with 6:18 remaining.
"I don't know why I've had such success against Tampa Bay," said David Steckel, who has four goals in six games against the Lightning. "Maybe it's been my dad, because he's been to all the games in Tampa that I've done so well."
Vaclav Prospal and Jan Hlavac scored 33 seconds apart shortly after Steckel's goal, tying the game at 2-2.
Prospal's 27th goal of the season came on a wraparound that went in off of Kolzig's pad. Standing in front of the net, Hlavac tipped defenseman Filip Kuba's wrist shot past Kolzig for his ninth tally.
However, Semin came through just 38 seconds after Hlavac's goal to help the Capitals post just their second win in five games (2-2-1).
"It was a great game, and when you've got a team like Tampa playing as good as they are right now, ..." Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They're probably playing as good as they've played all year. You come into their building, you're going to have to have that supreme effort from everybody to win, and I think everybody on our team played pretty well tonight."
Semin gathered the rebound of Viktor Kozlov's slap shot at the top of the crease and beat goaltender Johan Holmqvist to the left side for his 16th goal of the season.
"It's pretty devastating," Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle said. "We fought hard, had a great second period (and) fought hard to get back and tie it up late. And obviously, that last goal there - there was a lot of traffic in front of the net, and Semin is wide open by himself and the puck comes right to him and he puts it in. It's a tough way to lose a game."
Semin also added an assist for Washington, which managed to win despite the fact superstar Alex Ovechkin - the NHL's leading scorer - was held without a point for just the 12th time all season.
With the win, the Capitals remained two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Southeast Division.
"It's a big win, I think we deserve it, Fleischmann said.
Holmqvist stopped 32 shots for Tampa Bay, which had its two-game winning streak snapped.
"I thought our second period was probably one of our best periods all year long," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "The team keeps fighting. This team has fought as we've gone through here and they'll continue to fight after a tough loss like this."
From the Bleachers
-
WASHINGTON: 3
TAMPA BAY: 2
Final
Feb 16 9:59 PM -
NHL
WASHINGTON 3
TAMPA BAY 2
3RD PRD: WAS - ALEXANDER SEMIN 16 (UNASSISTED) 17:00
Feb 16 9:49 PM -
NHL
WASHINGTON 2
TAMPA BAY 2
3RD PRD: TAM - JAN HLAVAC 9 (FILIP KUBA, SHANE O'BRIEN) 16:22
Feb 16 9:49 PM -
NHL
WASHINGTON 2
TAMPA BAY 1
3RD PRD: TAM - VACLAV PROSPAL 27 (MARTIN ST. LOUIS) 15:49
Feb 16 9:48 PM -
NHL
WASHINGTON 2
TAMPA BAY 0
3RD PRD: WAS - DAVID STECKEL 5 (MATT BRADLEY, QUINTIN LAING) 13:52
Feb 16 9:42 PM -
WASHINGTON: 1
TAMPA BAY: 0
End of 2nd
Feb 16 8:59 PM -
WASHINGTON: 1
TAMPA BAY: 0
End of 1st
Feb 16 8:11 PM -
NHL
WASHINGTON 1
TAMPA BAY 0
1ST PRD: WAS - (PP) TOMAS FLEISCHMANN 8 (ALEXANDER SEMIN, NICKLAS
BACKSTROM) 16:12
Feb 16 8:10 PM
