Tom Wilson's heroics would provide the difference
The Washington Capitals took care of business in the Mentors's Trip with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Things looked bad though in the beginning.
In the first period Brayden Point struck twice. First on full strength at 3:58 and the second time on the power play at 12:27. 2-0 was the score after 20 with the Caps leading in shots on goal 9-8.
In the seond period it was Andrew Mangiapane who got the Caps on the board with his fifth goal of the season at 10:31. The goal was assisted by Lars Eller and Hendrix Lapierre. Then Aliaksei Protas raced down for a shorthanded goal for his eighth of the season at 12:29. Tom Wilson assisted there.
Tampa Bay would then put the Caps back to reality for a second with a goal at 19:16 credited to Michael Eyssimont for his second of the season. Shots in the middle period were 10-9 in favor of the Caps.
In the third Dylan Strome would tie with with his seventh goal of the season. The assists came from Taylor Raddysh and Protas at 1:37. Braden Point would then complete the hat trick with his 15th goal of the season to put the Bolts back in front at 7:25. A blast from John Carlson would tie it at 10:30
The Caps would then strike again on a four minute power play as Tom Wilson ended a 13 game goal less drought with his seventh of the season. Jakob Chychrun and Strome assisted there.
The Caps led in shots 13-11 in the final period and overall 32-28. Charlie Lindgren got he nod in goal and made 24 saves for an .857 save percentage. The win improves the Capitals record to 15-6-1 with 31 points. That's one point back of the New Jersey Devils and two back of the Carolina Hurricanes as we are writing this entering Turkey Day aka Thanksgiving.
The Caps had the edge in face off percentage at 63.8 to 36.2 percenage. Both teams had a 33.3 power play percentage. Penalty minutes was tied at 11. The Bolts had the hit edge 26-24. The Caps had the edge in blocked shots 15-11. Takeaways were 17-3 Caps while both teams had five takeaways.
In the end it aveged a 3-0 loss about a month ago and it sets the Caps up for a good back to back weekend coming up. First up is the New York Islanders on Black Friday for a 3 p.m. puck drop on Monumental Sports Network.
