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Caps manhandle Lightning

Tampa Bay is outshot 45-14 and outscored 4-1 for its first regulation loss in division.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 30, 2000

[AP photo] Martin St. Louis, right, is slammed into the goal by Peter Bondra. Olaf Kolzig, left, makes the save on Wednesday night.

WASHINGTON -- It takes a lot for Lightning coach Steve Ludzik to not find a silver lining in the darkest cloud.

But even such an eternal optimist couldn't come up with much positive to say after the Capitals' 4-1 smothering of Tampa Bay before an announced 11,504 at the MCI Center on Wednesday night. "I think tonight, for the first time this season, I was disappointed in the way we worked," Ludzik said.

That's because just about nothing worked.

Tampa Bay was outshot 45-14, got one shot on goal in the second period and went 20 minutes, 27 seconds during the second and third periods without forcing Capitals goaltender Olaf Kolzig to make a save.

Think of that. The Capitals could have played without Kolzig for more than a period and not given up a goal.

Vinny Lecavalier scored a power-play goal that gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 first-period lead. But Tampa Bay failed on four power-play chances in the second without a shot on goal.

The Lightning, 2-for-20 on the power play in its past four games, did get some shots off during a 47-second five-on-three. None hit the net.

"It's getting maddening the way the power play is functioning right now," Ludzik said. "It's losing us games."

It didn't help that Tampa Bay couldn't get the puck out of its end. The Lightning (4-1-0-2 in the Southeast Division) made great strides in that area earlier in the month but has regressed the past two games.

More disappointing: six of the Lightning's eight injured players returned, including four defensemen. Nothing seemed to help as Tampa Bay lost its third straight, including an overtime loss to the Panthers.

The Capitals have won four of their past six and four straight at home.

"We just had an all-around good game," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said.

"Tonight they came out wanting it, and we struggled," defenseman Jassen Cullimore said. "If it wasn't for our goaltender, we would have lost that game 10-1."

Kevin Weekes was outstanding. He made 41 saves and was the only reason Washington led just 2-1 midway through the third. The dam finally broke as Washington's Joe Murphy and Chris Simon scored in 2:14 to put the Lightning out of its misery.

Weekes made Trent Whitfield miserable in the first period with an astonishing stop. The sequence began with a save on Joe Sacco, who split the defense and shot from Weekes' right.

The puck bounced sharply into the slot. Because Weekes was hugging the post, Whitfield had an open net.

But Weekes threw himself to his left, stretched his left arm and caught the puck with his glove. Whitfield, holding his arms up in celebration of what he thought was a sure goal, looked over his shoulder in disbelief.

"It's just reactionary," Weekes said. "You just try to react to what you see in front of you. I don't expect to make too many of those."

The Lightning certainly didn't expect to be overwhelmed territorially like it was in the game's first eight minutes. But from the opening faceoff, Tampa Bay's defense was hesitant and its forwards were losing the battles along the boards.

The result: Washington had a 14-1 advantage in shots.

"The way (the Capitals) played the first 10 minutes gave them the whole momentum and control of the game," Lightning center Brad Richards said.

The Lightning never gave itself a chance to get the momentum back. After Wayne Primeau's shot on goal 5:21 into the second, Tampa Bay was dry until Fredrik Modin's shot on goal at 5:48 of the third.

"There's no excuse for that," forward Brian Holzinger said. "You can dump a puck in from the red line and get a shot on goal, the way the game is these days."

Even that would have been an improvement.

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