Tampa Bay nearly took the lead late in the first period, but a successful challenge from the Washington coaching staff wiped the goal off the board. Alex Killorn's initial shot caromed out of play and fell right to him at the near post for an easy tap in. It was called a goal on the ice, but a quick review revealed that the puck had deflected off the netting above the glass.
Alex Ovechkin scored the game-opening goal at 18:51 of the second period to give Washington the lead. Brayden Point made a nice play to break up an odd man rush for the Capitals, but Steven Stamkos' clearing attempt didn't get by Ovechkin at the blue line. Ovechkin walked to the top of the slot and snapped a shot through Andrei Vasilevskiy's five-hole.
Video review overturned a goal for the second time 15 seconds later to deny Ovechkin his second goal of the period. Ovechkin quickly snapped a shot off the near post and past Andrei Vasilevskiy, but he was able to dive back and cover the puck with his glove before it could cross the line. Again, the play was ruled a goal on the ice and was disallowed, this time by a ref-initiated review.
With the deficit still at one, Mikhail Sergachev's goal less than five minutes into the third period was enough for Tampa Bay to force overtime for the second-straight game. The Lightning cycled the puck to Sergachev at the blue line, and his shot from the point got through traffic and past Vitek Vanecek to tie the game at one.
It was the Caps who had the best chance in the early going of overtime after Sergachev delivered a cross-check to the back of Evgeny Kuznetsov, giving Washington a power play early in the extra session.
Tampa Bay slugged its way through a successful penalty kill and took advantage of a fast break in the final minute to secure the second point. Off a faceoff win in the defensive zone, Stamkos grabbed the puck, skated the length of the ice and snapped a shot by Vanecek off the right wing.
It wasn't all good news for the Bolts, as they lost Nikita Kucherov to an apparent injury late in the third. Going after a puck in the Caps zone, Kucherov appeared to get tangled up with Garnet Hathaway and had to skate very gingerly back to the Lightning bench before heading down the tunnel. He did not play at all in overtime.
Kucherov's status will be something to monitor as the Bolts return home for their biggest game of the early season on Tuesday night when they host the Panthers for the first time since last season's First Round.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
WSH | 18:51 Alex Ovechkin (3) - Unassisted
3rd Period
TBL | 4:23 Mikhail Sergachev (1) - Steven Stamkos, Erik Cernak
Overtime
TBL | 4:45 Steven Stamkos (3) - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
