Jake Guentzel factored into every scoring play with a goal and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning earned a 3-1 victory against the Washington Capitals on Saturday at Benchmark International Arena.
Tampa Bay built a lead early in the opening period. Charle-Edouard D'Astous scored his first goal of the season at 2:26 on a wrist shot set up by Brandon Hagel and Guentzel. The Lightning doubled their advantage at 16:30 of the first when Conor Geekie scored his first goal of the season with another wrist shot, again assisted by Hagel and Guentzel.
The Capitals responded in the second period to cut the deficit in half. Justin Sourdif registered his first goal of the season at 7:04, deflecting a tip-in past the goaltender off assists from Jakob Chychrun and Boone Jenner. Tampa Bay secured the final margin late in regulation when Guentzel scored an empty-net goal on a wrist shot at 17:55 of the third period, with assists credited to Nikita Kucherov and John Carlson.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 of 21 shots to earn the victory in net for the Lightning. Charlie Lindgren made 27 saves on 29 shots faced for Washington in the loss. Neither team produced on special teams, as Tampa Bay went 0 for 3 on the man advantage and Washington finished 0 for 2.
The result leveled the regular-season records for both clubs at 1-1-0. Tampa Bay controlled play on the dot, winning 30 of 48 faceoffs for a 62.5 percent success rate, while also holding a 30-21 edge in total shots on goal.
Both teams return to the ice on Tuesday, October 20. The Capitals will host the Los Angeles Kings, and the Lightning will visit the Vegas Golden Knights.
