Game #16 Recap: Caps 6 Lightning 3

Hats rained down on Alexander Semin in the final minute of last night's 6-3 as he completed his second hat trick of the season. The empty net goal capped off a 4 goal explosion in the third period and Washington cruised to it's 6th straight win. The first period was rocky for the Caps who gave up the first goal once again. The Caps played much better in the second period as they increased the forechecking pressure on the Bolts. Tom Poti, playing in his first game back from injury, scored in the second minute to to tie the game 1-1. Mike Knuble gave the Caps the lead on a broken rush that saw him score from about 4 feet behind the net. He reached out and flicked the loose puck from a ridiculous position for his second goal in two games. Tampa responded early in the third. While on the power play, the Bolts kept the Capitals hemmed in their own zone and scored on a rebound. Two minutes later The Capitals converted their only power play of the game when Semin ripped a Nicklas Backstrom feed into the net. Semin scored again from Backstrom at the 10-minute mark and the Caps were up by two. NHL leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos scored on a wicked wrist shot to cut the lead to one. However, Semin wasn't done yet. After being fouled on a breakaway he found fellow Russian Alex Ovechkin all alone in front of the Tampa net and Ovechkin beat the Tampa goaltender to give the Caps a two goal advantage. Semin finished off the scoring with the empty net goal and sealed the 6-3 victory.

Of Note:

• Michael Nuevirth stopped 38 of 41 shots he faced. He continues to lead the NHL with 10 wins on the season.
• Semin's 5 point night was the most points he had scored in a game since he got 2 goals and 3 assists against Carolina on November 12, 2008. 
• Nicklas Backstrom cracked the 200 assist milestone with 4 assists in the game. The young centerman now has 203 assists in 262 career games.
• Alex Ovechkin scored 1 goal and assisted on 2 others to extend his point streak to 8 games. Ovie has 5 goals and 10 assists in those 8 games.
• The Capitals dominated in the face-off dot winning 40 of 56 draws. David Steckel won 20 of the 29 draws he took.
• The Caps penalty killers were so so, giving up 1 goal on 4 chances. The power play scored on the only chance it had. On the 6 game winning streak the power play has converted 9 of 22 chances.
• Tomas Fleischmann, Brooks Laich, Jeff Schultz and John Carlson each had an assist in the game.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Event Summary