Capitals Overcome Brayden Point Hat Trick to Take Down Lightning 5-4 – The Hockey Writers Tampa Bay Lightning Latest News, Analysis & More

The Washington Capitals (15-6-1) went into Amalie Arena and picked up a 5-4 road win over the Tampa Bay Lightning (11-8-2). In what originally looked like a Lightning win highlighted by forward Brayden Point picking up the hat trick, the Capitals battled back.

They also managed to spoil Lightning head coach Jon Cooper’s 900th game behind the bench.

Big Night for Brayden Point Not Enough

The Lightning opened the scoring with two goals by Point in the first period. The first one was a backhanded shot assisted by Jake Guentzel and the second was a snapshot assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman.

After one, the score remained 2-0 Lightning.

Scoring remained quiet through 10:31 into the second period. Then, the Capitals scored two unanswered goals within two minutes to knot it up 2-2. Andrew Magniapane scored the first, assisted by Lars Eller and Hendrix Lapierre. Aliaksei Protas was the one to tie it up, assisted by Tom Wilson.

In the final seconds of the period, Mikey Eyssimont scored in the final second to make it 3-2 at the end of 40.

Dylan Strome tied it up again at 3-3 1:37 into the third period. Then, the strangest way to ever pick up a hat trick occurred. Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren was handling the puck in front of the net and as he spun around to find a teammate, he lost it in his own goal.

That put the Lightning up again, 4-3. Those are the type of moments where you think the dagger is in, but the Capitals had some life remaining in them. John Carlson had an unassisted goal to tie it again, and Tom Wilson gave the Capitals their first lead of the night to finish off the scoring.

Lindgren saved 24 of 28 on the night (.857) while Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 27 of 32 (.844). Both teams went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Capitals head back to DC to host the New York Islanders on Friday. Meanwhile, the Lightning head to Nashville for a rematch with former captain Steven Stamkos and the Predators. Both games have a puck drop of 3 p.m. EST.

Three Stars of the Game:

1. Tom Wilson (1-1–2)
2. Brayden Pint (3-0–3)
3. John Carlson (1-0–1)