TAMPA — Mikhail Sergachev had two goals and two assists in the first period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-3 win against the Washington Capitals at Amalie Arena on Sunday.
Sergachev is the first defenseman to have four points in a period since Morgan Rielly did it with the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 15, 2019.
“We had a good meeting this morning about what we needed to do,” Sergachev said. “Guys showed up and played really well in the first. Power play stepped up, PK stepped up. It was a good night for the most part.”
Video: WSH@TBL: Sergachev nets 4th goal of season in 1st
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (8-6-1), who had lost their past two games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves.
“For 57 minutes we didn’t stray from anything and played a pretty solid hockey game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “Much more plusses than minuses, but we still have to make sure we are cleaning that stuff up.
Conor Sheary and Lars Eller scored for the Capitals (7-8-2), who defeated the Lightning 5-1 at Capital One Arena on Friday. Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on nine shots before being replaced by Charlie Lindgrenwho made 24 saves in relief.
“We came out, we weren’t even close to being ready to play,” said Washington assistant Kevin McCarthy, who was coaching in place of Peter Laviolette (COVID protocol). “It was like we were trying to catch a moving train out there. They were first on pucks, won every puck battle, won every race for a puck. It was an all-around terrible, terrible 20 minutes.”
Sergachev made it 1-0 at 1:23 with a shot from the right point through traffic. Kucherov then put Tampa Bay up 2-0 at 8:19 with a one-timer from the left circle on a power play.
Video: WSH@TBL: Sergachev gives Lightning lead in 1st period
Nick Perbix extended the lead to 3-0 at 11:12 when his shot deflected off the skate of Capitals defenseman Erik Gustafsson.
Sergachev’s second goal came on the power play at 16:22 to make it 4-0.
“I think it was the worst 20 minutes I’ve seen us play this year,” Eller said. “We were [terrible], flat out. We acted like we were top of the standings and won 10 in a row. You have to bring a whole different attitude, effort, battle, mentality. … They just ran right over us.”
Sheary made it 4-1 at 18:04 of the second off a pass Yevgeny Kuznetsov.
“After the first period we settled down a little bit,” Lindgren said. “Obviously, it wasn’t perfect, but our game was better. That first period was tough to watch, and then I thought we got better.”
Cole Koepke scored his first NHL goal to make it 5-1 at 13:15 of the third. His backhand in front deflected off the post and hit the camera in the back of the net.
“It feels great, it’s something I looked forward to,” said Koepke, who was playing in his 13th NHL game. “It’s been 12 or 13 games now, so you try not to let it frustrate you, but it finally came and it feels great.”
Video: WSH@TBL: Koepke increases Lightning’s lead in 3rd
The goal call was delayed and occurred later Brandon Hagel scored at 13:34 on the next shift, but the Situation Room was about to sound the horn after it was confirmed Koepke’s shot crossed the goal line.
“It was weird, I don’t know how they didn’t see it… the puck went in the middle of the net,” Cooper said. “First the refs didn’t see it, but the fact that Koepke didn’t celebrate was a little odd to me. But good for him.”
Eller brought the Capitals within 5-2 at 16:59, but Nicholas Paul made it 6-2 when he scored into an empty net at 17:16.
Garnet Hathaway scored from close range 42 seconds later for the 6-3 final.
NOTES: Lightning captain Steven Stamkos had two assists, giving him 499 for his career. … Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was minus-2 with three shots on goal and five hits in 24:04. He hasn’t scored a goal in the past three games. … Perbix has five points (three goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak.
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