TAMPA, Fla. — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves, Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Conor Geekie scored in the first period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning won their home opener with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Brandon Hagel had two assists for the Lightning, and Jake Guentzel scored into an empty net and had an assist. Tampa Bay opened play Thursday night in New York with a 5-1 loss to the Rangers.
Charlie Lindgren finished with 27 saves for Washington. Justin Sourdif scored for the Capitals.
D’Astous put Tampa Bay up 1-0 at 2:26 of the opening period as he cut down from the point into the middle slot to take a pass from Hagel and zipped a wrist shot past Lindgren.
The Lightning finished the period with a goal from Geekie, who was off the right wing side to take a pass from Hagel for a quick shot to the inside of the post with 3:30 to go for a 2-0 lead.
The Capitals, who opened Friday with a win at Carolina, cut the deficit in half in the second period on a redirect from Sourdif off a point shot from Jakob Chychurn.
Guentzel scored with 2:05 left in the third.
Washington played the third period without defenseman Matt Roy, who suffered a lower-body injury.
Tampa Bay defenseman John Carlson, who spent 17 seasons with the Capitals, played his first career game against Washington, picking up an assist on the empty-net goal.
Up next
Capitals: Host Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
Lightning: Host Philadelphia on Monday night.
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