THE SERIES: The first of six meetings. The Lightning trails 12-34-6.
KEY INJURIES: Washington - Michael Nylander (broken leg, out), Matt Pettinger (concussion, doubtful). Tampa Bay - None.
THE LOWDOWN: The Capitals, statistically, are the worst team in the NHL. Since an opening-night victory, they are 1-8-1, though they are 1-1 their past two games. ... Washington is 0-6-1 on the road with six straight losses and has been outscored 26-9. ... The Capitals have not scored more than two goals in nine consecutive games. ... Lightning LW Fredrik Modin leads the team at plus-6. ... Capitals RW Peter Bondra has 40 goals and 53 points in 48 games against the Lightning. G Olaf Kolzig is 17-6-0 with a 2.14 goals-against average. ... Entering Monday, Tampa Bay's penalty kill was No. 3 in the league at 89.7 percent. It has taken care of 27 of its past 29 short-handed situations. ... G Nikolai Khabibulin was tied for the lead with six victories. ... The usual 400 $8 seats go on sale at 9 a.m. today at the Times Forum box office and through Ticketmaster.
