Did Alex Ovechkin score? Non.
Plus: It wasn’t a great game overall, but the Caps did play a solid, if uninspired, first period, and had some of their best offensive chances in the opening frame as they held the Bolts in a 0-0 tie. Small victories.
Minus: The Caps have been averaging well over four goals a game to start the season – and have lit up Tampa’s behemoth goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy plenty over the years – but came up empty tonight despite outshooting Tampa by a decent margin. A lot of their struggles could probably be traced to the fact that, for most of this game, the Caps were reluctant to do what they’ve been doing most of the season, which is get to the front of the net and make it hard to see shots. Like any netminder, Vasilevskiy is usually going to stop what he sees, and he saw everything tonight.
Our Three Stars:
*** Pierre-Luc Dubois (4 SOG)
** Conor Geekie (1st career goal)
* Andrei Vasilevskiy (31-save shutout)