Anthony Cirelli tallies three points to lead Lightning past Capitals

[November 02, 2021] Anthony Cirelli recorded the go-ahead goal and added two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning dealt visiting Washington its first regulation loss, beating the Capitals 3-2 on Monday.

In a matchup between perennial Eastern Conference powers, the Lightning defeated Washington for the second time in just over two weeks. They earned a 2-1 overtime road win against the Capitals on Oct. 16.

Red-hot Alex Killorn and Brayden Point scored for the Lightning, who crafted their first three-game winning streak thus far. In his eighth career game, rookie forward Taylor Raddysh registered an assist for his first NHL point.

Starting for the 300th time in a regular-season game, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 of 33 shots and won his third straight start.

Brett Leason -- one of four rookies in Washington's lineup -- notched his first career goal in his second game. Conor Sheary produced his first tally of the season, and goalie Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves.

After claiming points in eight straight (5-0-3) in October, the Capitals failed to match their best point-streak start ever -- nine games, set last year during a 6-0-3 beginning.

Each team went 1-for-4 on the power play.

Leason flipped in a seemingly harmless shot from near the boards above the right circle, but Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman clipped the puck and redirected it past Vasilevskiy 73 seconds in for a 1-0 lead.

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Boris Katchouk (41) skates with the puck against the Washington Capitals during the first quarter at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Lightning's hottest player, Killorn netted a goal in his fourth consecutive contest early in the second. The left wing poked in a puck in front of Vanecek for his fifth marker in his past four games.

His team-leading seventh at 3:18 knotted it at 1, and Cirelli -- playing on a two-man advantage -- put the home side up by batting in his second goal on a puck that bounced off him in front of the crease at 8:40.

On a turnover in the neutral zone early in the third, Raddysh stripped defenseman Justin Schultz and flipped the puck forward to Point, who sped in and beat Vanecek at 2:56 -- his fourth goal and Cirelli's second helper.

On a sharp pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov, Sheary cut the deficit to 3-2 by chipping in his first goal on the team's fourth power play at 11:38.

But Vasilevskiy preserved the win with a pair of good saves after Vanecek left the ice for the extra skater twice in the last 90 seconds.

--Field Level Media

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