NHL

Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League

Hagel lifts surging Lightning to 3-2 win over Capitals

Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Highlights

Hagel and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist as Tampa Bay won for the seventh time in eight games. Emil Lilleberg scored his first goal of the season, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Charle-Edouard D’Astous had two assists for the Lightning.

Brandon Duhaime and John Carlson scored for Washington, which has one win in the past seven games. Logan Thompson, who stopped 16 shots, allowed more than two goals for the first time in 10 starts.

Hagel took a pass from rookie Dominic James in traffic inside the blue line, cut underneath James and fired a shot from the slot for his seventh goal in the last seven games.

Duhaime put the Capitals in front quickly, taking a pass from Ethen Frank and scoring on a snap shot from a side angle that banked in off Vasilevskiy at 4:06 of the first period.

Tampa Bay answered when Lilleberg joined the rush and one-timed a pass from Guentzel in the slot at 6:07.

Guentzel put the Lightning in front with a power-play goal when Victor Hedman’s point shot deflected off his shin pad at 15:09.

Carlson pulled Washington even when his slap shot from inside the blue line squeaked through Vasilevskiy and sat in the paint before Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak knocked the puck into the net with 2:52 left in the second period.

Up next Capitals: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Lightning: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 4:06 Brandon Duhaime Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Ethen Frank (2), Nic Dowd (3)
Goal 1st Period 6:07 Emil Lilleberg Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Jake Guentzel (9), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (3)
Goal 1st Period 15:09 Jake Guentzel Goal (6) Tip-In, assists: Victor Hedman (12), Brandon Hagel (7)
Goal 2nd Period 17:08 John Carlson Goal (4) , assists: none
Goal 3rd Period 8:42 Brandon Hagel Goal (7) Snap Shot, assists: Dominic James (3), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (4)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
12 Blocked Shots 10
19 Hits 20
5 Takeaways 4
30 Shots 20
0 Power Play Goals 1
1 Power Play Opportunities 2
0.0 Power Play Percentage 50.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
29 Faceoffs Won 23
55.8 Faceoff Win Percent 44.2
12 Giveaways 11
6 Total Penalties 4
23 Penalty Minutes 11
Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Brandon Hagel, LW Day-To-Day Dec 15
Emil Lilleberg, D Injured Reserve Dec 15
Ryan McDonagh, D Injured Reserve Dec 15
Erik Cernak, D Injured Reserve Dec 13
Victor Hedman, D Injured Reserve Dec 12
Washington Capitals Washington Capitals Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Ryan Leonard, RW Injured Reserve Dec 11

Game Information

Benchmark International Arena

Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 21 9 44 2
NY Islanders 19 12 41 3
Philadelphia 17 9 40 6
Washington 18 11 40 4
Pittsburgh 14 9 37 9
New Jersey 18 14 37 1
NY Rangers 16 15 36 4
Columbus 14 13 34 6

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Detroit 19 12 41 3
Boston 20 14 40 0
Tampa Bay 18 12 39 3
Montreal 17 12 38 4
Florida 17 13 36 2
Toronto 15 12 35 5
Ottawa 15 13 34 4
Buffalo 14 14 32 4
Full Standings