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Lightning-Capitals: Observations from Tampa Bay’s 6-3 loss

Tampa Bay finished the regular season with a 32-7-2 record on home ice.
 
Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) battles Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen (2) along the glass during the third period.
Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) battles Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen (2) along the glass during the third period.
Published March 31, 2019|Updated March 31, 2019

TAMPA – The Lightning had one of its less spectacular, non-record-breaking nights Saturday despite the accolades the team celebrated beforehand.

And the matchup didn’t end on a positive note either as the Lightning capped off its regular season on home ice with a 6-3 loss to the Capitals.

With seconds left in the first period Victor Hedman tried to check Washington’s Carl Hagelin into the glass boards. But as Hedman charged toward the boards, Hagelin looked up and braced himself for impact, leading with his left shoulder. Hedman took Hagelin’s helmet to the face in the process.

Hedman did not return to action after the first period when he retreated to the locker room with his teammates at the first intermission.

Following the game, Jon Cooper did not have an update on the defenseman and was unaware of whether Hedman went under concussion protocol when he left the ice.

“Hedman got hit in kind of tough fashion,” Cooper said after the game.

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Erik Černák also left the matchup early after a tussle with Washington’s Tom Wilson. The two have been brewing for the whole Lightning-Capitals series over the past week and a half, but it came to a boil Saturday night when the gloves dropped.

After the 30-second scrum, Černák headed to the locker room while Wilson went to the box to serve the five-minute fighting penalty.

Černák didn’t return for the remainder of the period (with less than eight minutes to go). Cooper was unsure what exactly happened while Černák was off the ice, but he felt the defenseman would be fine to return for the road.

“Černy’s going to be OK,” Cooper said.

Here are some odds and ends from Tampa Bay’s 6-3 loss:

Miller tip off Sergachev shot. Mikhail Sergachev certainly put some heat on his shot from the blueline late into the second period. So much in fact, you could easily hear the clack of the puck from the press box as it hit J.T. Miller’s stick, tipping in the shot past Washington’s Braden Holtby and putting the Lightning on the board for the first time all night.

Related: Photos: Lightning takes on Capitals

Four defensemen. With both Hedman and Černák missing from the lineup about halfway through the third period, the Lightning were forced to work with only four of its defensemen available in Ryan McDonagh, Sergachev, Braydon Coburn and Jan Rutta. Washington got on the board twice during that time frame compared to the Lightning’s one.

Johnson moves to one shy of matching a personal record. Tyler Johnson sprinted down the ice like he was in a track meet running for a title as he escaped Washington’s offensive zone on a breakaway and sprinted toward Holtby. He took a shot on net just a few feet outside the crease and notched his 28th goal on the season, just one goal shy of matching a career record for the most goals on a single season.

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Related: Up Next: at Ottawa, Monday 7:30 p.m. | TV/Radio: Fox Sports Sun, TSN5, RDS/AM-970

In comes Kucherov. Nikita Kucherov fired a pass toward the blueline from the right faceoff circle to Sergachev. The defenseman took a stride to his left before passing it back to Kucherov, who stood waiting toward the top of the circle. With one movement, his shot found the back of the net with speed, moving past Holtby before the Washington goaltender could even grab it out of the air with his glove hand. Kucherov’s goal brought the Lightning to the halfway point, but it wasn’t enough to bounce back from a three-goal deficit.

Racking up the box score, or should we say minutes? The Lightning totaled eight penalties on Saturday: two majors for fighting, two for tripping, three for high-sticking and one for boarding. Altogether the Lightning spent a whole period in the box, literally 20 minutes on the night.

All the hoopla. The Lightning celebrated Fan Appreciation Night with a Presidents’ Trophy ceremony and a silver stick ceremony for Steven Stamkos before the contest against the Capitals. Stamkos is one of few players to actually touch the trophy in the last 20 years.

Last night donning “The Darkness.” The Lightning donned its third jerseys for the last time this season in its Saturday matchup against the Capitals. The black alternate jersey was worn seven times this season, including every Saturday home game since it was revealed.

Contact Mari Faiello at mfaiello@tampabay.com. Follow @faiello_mari.