Lightning hang on, end Capitals season-opening point streak at eight

TAMPA -- The Washington Capitals had their season-opening eight-game point streak end in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Monday.

Washington forward Alex Ovechkin had his eight-game point streak end and remained two goals from tying Brett Hull (741) for fourth on the NHL goals list.
Brett Leason scored his first NHL goal, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves for the Capitals (5-1-3).
"It's frustrating. That's our team, we set the bar high," Washington center Lars Eller said. "There's no excuses. We hate losing, and it's an empty feeling for us right now. ... [Tampa Bay is] one of the best teams in the League. Tough challenge for us, and at the end of the day, we didn't get two points, but lots of positives also, Leason getting his first goal and stuff."
Anthony Cirelli had a goal and two assists for the Lightning (5-3-1), who have won three in a row. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves, including a sprawling glove save on Tom Wilson 17 seconds into the second period.
"You just don't want to be in positions to chase games, and he prevented us from doing that," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Vasilevskiy's performance. "We scored right after that. Instead of it being 2-0, it's 1-1, and it's all because of the timeliness of that save."

Leason gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:13 of the first period when his shot went in off defenseman Victor Hedman's stick.
"Their goalie played well," Washingon coach Peter Laviolette said. "I like the game we played, we did a lot of good things. It's difficult because it's a game you feel you come out the right way and doing the right thing, and you're fighting some things that happen throughout the course of the game. Tough. It's a tough loss."
Alex Killorn tied it 1-1 at 3:18 of the second period when he scored with a backhand off a pass across the top of the crease from Cirelli. Killorn has scored five times during a four-game goal streak.
Cirelli put the Lightning ahead 2-1 at 8:40 when he scored on a 5-on-3 power play.
Alex Barre-Boulet
sent the puck to the net, and Cirelli scored from close range.
"I think we're just building each and every game and trying to get better in practice," Cirelli said. "We've got a lot of work to do, but we're going in the right direction."

Brayden Point extended the lead to 3-1 at 2:56 of the third period when he scored on a breakaway off a pass from Taylor Raddysh.
"There's still things we need to do better," Point said. "It's nice to get a couple of wins in a row here, especially at home."
Conor Sheary made it 3-2 at 11:38 with his first goal of the season. With the Capitals on the power play, Sheary scored after Evgeny Kuznetsov sent the puck to the net.
"I think for the most part it was a pretty good 60-minute game," Sheary said. "We gave them a 5-on-3, and they were able to get some momentum off that, but other than that, I thought we worked hard and got our chances. They were opportunistic with theirs."
Ovechkin had a game-high six shots on goal. He was set up for consecutive one-timers on a power play late in the first period, but Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak blocked each shot.
"That's how you win hockey games," Cooper said. "Someone's got to do it, and it takes so much courage to stand in there and eat those because you know he's not passing."
NOTES: Ovechkin scored nine goals and had six assists during his point streak. He leads the NHL in goals. ... Kuznetsov extended his point streak to three games (one goal, two assists) and has scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) in the past seven games. … Lightning defenseman Cal Foote had one shot on goal and one blocked shot in 9:36 in his season debut. ... Raddysh's assist on Point's goal was his first NHL point.