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Bolts OT win over Caps keep them atop the division

Jan 5, 2011 - 6:12 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Martin St. Louis tallied with 2:06 left in overtime to lift Tampa Bay over Washington, 1-0, at Verizon Center.

Vinny Lecavalier unloaded a shot from the right circle that Semyon Varlamov kicked out with his pad, but the rebound came out to St. Louis, who made no mistake to the half-open net for the game-winner.

"Both goaltenders were tremendous, both teams had the surge, but we ended up getting the bounce and we made the most of it," said St. Louis.

Making his Tampa debut after being dealt from the Islanders on Saturday, Dwayne Roloson stopped all 34 shots he faced for the Lightning, who took over sole possession of first place in the Southeast Division with their eighth win in 10 games.

"They are a pretty good team -- they're tough to defend against," said Caps star Alex Ovechkin.

Varlamov took the loss despite 37 stops for the Capitals, who had won five of six coming in and now trail the Bolts by one point for the division lead.

Despite numerous chances on both ends of the ice, there was no score through 40 minutes of play.

Roloson kept the hosts at bay with 26 saves -- including 21 alone in the second period, while Varlamov turned aside 25 shots.

Both netminders tallied eight saves in the third period.

Game Notes

Roloson had gone 6-13-1 with a 2.64 goals-against average in 20 starts with the Islanders before the trade...Tampa Bay's last scoreless game following overtime occurred on November 23, 2003 in a 0-0 tie against Carolina...Washington's last such contest happened on April 5, 2002 against Ottawa in a scoreless deadlock...The Caps hadn't been blanked on home ice since December 9.