TAMPA -- It is not uncommon for reporters to huddle around Dave Andreychuk after a game. Win or lose, the Lightning captain is counted on for straight talk and an honest assessment.

Andreychuk was true to form after Tuesday night's 5-1 loss to the Capitals at the St. Pete Times Forum after which he was not only honest, but brutally so.

"The value of that game stopped when the game started," Andreychuk said.

A few questions later, he said, "You get up in the morning and you read the paper and realize the position we're in. Everything there was the way it should be going into the game, but they wanted it more than us, and that's something that as a team we can't afford to have happen."

And then the real zinger.

"We didn't look like we wanted to be in the playoffs tonight."

Instead it was the Capitals -- led by Jaromir Jagr's 11th career hat trick and 500th career goal, not to mention four second-period tallies that opened a 5-0 lead -- who showed what it takes to win in a playoff race.

They forechecked ferociously, went 3-for-6 on the power play and got solid goaltending from Olaf Kolzig, who improved to 17-5-0 against the Lightning.

Lightning goaltender John Grahame was pulled 8:26 into the second after giving up four goals on 11 shots, though he got little help from Tampa Bay's defense.

The loss dropped the Lightning five points behind the Capitals in the Southeast. Thanks to a Canadiens loss, Tampa Bay kept the No.8 and final playoff spot in the East. That was little consolation after a game the Lightning, which had been on a 4-1-1 streak, had hoped would kick off a playoff push.

"It's pretty disappointing," defenseman Dan Boyle said. "There are definitely no excuses."

It wasn't as if the Lightning was dominated. Tampa Bay outshot Washington 28-23, including 14-4 in the third. But the Capitals capitalized on the chances they created.

No one did that better than Jagr, who had three shots on goal and buried them all. The milestone came at 7:19 of the second on a five-on-three power play with one-timer from the faceoff circle.

"I don't even care about it," said Jagr, the 33rd player to reach 500 goals and the 16th to do it in less than 1,000 games (928). "I'm just glad we won. It was a big game for us. They're five points behind and that's huge."

Sixty-seven seconds later, Peter Bondra scored on a power play to make it 4-0, and Grahame was pulled.

"Give them credit," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "They played very well away from the puck and that's what our biggest weakness is."

The Lightning's defensive coverages also were weak, especially in front of the net, and the Capitals came through the neutral zone too easily. Then there was Tampa Bay's 0-for-7 power play.

A bright spot was Nikolai Khabibulin, who looked solid in relief and stopped 11 of 12 shots. Fredrik Modin scored his 13th goal in the third.

Not nearly enough to change the game or sustain a playoff drive.

"I don't think we were committed tonight in certain areas," Tortorella said. "I'm not going to say we took a step backward. It's a matter of getting it done consistently."

"It comes down to desperation," Andreychuk said. "Who wants it and paying the price."