Lightning wrap up back-to-back set with overtime loss to Capitals

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 14, 2025

Published in Hockey

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WASHINGTON — It’s clear the Lightning are still finding their footing early in this season.

To claim three points out of four in their road back-to-back normally would be satisfactory, but the Lightning sit at 1-2-1 following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.

They weren’t able to carry over momentum from their one-goal win in Boston on Monday afternoon, unable to hold an early third-period lead.

Jakob Chychrun scored the winner with 3:41 left in 3-on-3 overtime.

Otherwise, Andrei Vasilevskiy was spectacular, stopping 24 of 26 shots in regulation, including a Grade-A chance by Chychrun in the final minute while losing his stick.

Needing to grab momentum early in the third period, the Lightning went back to what’s worked for so long on the power play: Brayden Point in the bumper position.

Point has moved out to the left circle this season. But the Lightning showed that they’re going to manipulate opponents by making their power play unpredictable.

So Point went back to the bumper, and after struggling to manufacture offense, the Lightning power play made it look easy on Point’s redirection off Victor Hedman’s puck toward the net from the point 73 seconds into the third.

But that lead was short-lived, after Tom Wilson scored a tying goal on the power play at the 4:56 mark.

Jon Cooper’s early-season tweaks to his forward lines, which included moving Jake Guentzel to the Lightning’s matchup line with Anthony Cirelli and Gage Goncalves, have paid off.

Guentzel’s greatest strength is his knack for being in the right place on the ice at the right time, allowing him to be both playmaker and goal scorer.

After recording two primary assists in Boston, Guentzel got the Lightning going again Tuesday, opening scoring 7:06 into the first period with his first goal of the season.

Guentzel was positioned on the boards side of the left circle for an offensive zone faceoff at the left dot. As Cirelli swept the puck behind him to defenseman Ryan McDonagh, Guentzel skated away free toward the net, leaving a crowd of traffic behind him in the dot and two Capitals skaters flatfooted in front of the net.

McDonagh then found Guentzel as he skated across the front of the net, and Guentzel unloaded a wrister from the right hash past Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson.

Vasilevskiy stopped the first 14 shots he saw before Connor McMichael chased down a dumped-in puck, outracing J.J. Moser along the left wing and skating behind the net.

Vasilevskiy expected McMichael to wrap around the net, but he instead passed behind him to a trailing Aliaksei Protas, who beat Hedman to the puck and shot past Vasilevskiy, who was looking the other way.

The Lightning played with just five defensemen for most of the game after rookie Max Crozier left late in the first period. Crozier entered the game leading all Lightning defensemen with three assists and a plus-2 rating.