Lightning shut out Capitals extend lead in Southeast Division

By on January 16, 2011

The Tampa Bay Lightning (26-13-5) shut out division rival Washington Capitals (24-13-7) for the second time in eight days Wednesday at the St Pete Times Forum.  Newly acquired goaltender Dwayne Roloson made a great first impression for the home town crowd as he stopped all 23 shots and was credited with an assist on the team’s first goal. 

With the 3-0 win the  Bolts now lead the Southeast division with 57 points leaving Washington two points behind the division leaders.

Washington came into the game after losing the night before in overtime against the Florida Panthers.  It was a welcome switch for the Lightning to be able to lie in wait for another team as they were off since the game on Sunday in New Jersey.  It showed early as the Bolts set the pace of the game in the first period leading to the two goals they scored.

Dominic Moore lights the lamp earlier as he dribbled a shot past Semyon Varlamov for his 8th goal of the season at 3:58 of the first period to give the Bolts an earlier 1-0 lead.  On the play Nate Thompson made a nice pass to Moore as he tipped the initial shot on the net but the Caps goaltender was unable to control the rebound which Moore was to take advantagae.

Bolts extended their lead 2-0 at 16:04 of the first, Victor Hedman shot the puck on net and Sean Bergenheim knocked the puck out of the air on another rebound left Varlamov to score his 8th of the season.  It was Bergenheim’s first game back after missing a few games with a virus. 

Simon Gagne scored on a breakaway, going stick side to give the Bolts a 3-0 lead at with 1:42 left in the second period.  Bergenheim sprung Gagne after a clean faceoff win from Vincent Lecavalier.  For the embattled forward it has to be a boost for his confidence to finally get rewarded for the consistent effort and for linemate Bergenheim he finsihed the game with two points to pace the Bolts.

The team showed a growth tonight as they were able to finish the hockey game by not letting up on the Capitals as they continued to pressure them in the third period even though they were up by three goals.  The Lightning finished the game with a shot advantage of 38-23 which should indicate just how dominant the team was tonight. 

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