In Tampa, the visiting Washington Capitals blew a two-goal lead in the third period to find themselves elves tied with the Lightning, 3-3. 
Nicholas Paul trimmed a Tampa deficit to 3-2 at 2:42 of the third period, scoring off a backhand.
“We knew we had to do what we could to win that game,” Paul said. “And we came on hard and unfortunately fell short. And yeah, it’s a tough one, you know? Just got to move past it now and just focus on these next couple of games and bear down.”
Tyler Motte then got the Lightning even, 3-3, at 3:06 with a shot from the left side.
Problem for Tampa was they forgot o play defense the rest of the way.
Rasmus Sandin hit for teh game-winner at 15:01 of the third off a wrist shot from the high out in the slot.
“[Dylan Strome] and ‘Pro’ made a great play there,” Sandin said. “I just got on the ice and Pro found me, it was a big hole in the middle, and luckily I capitalized on it today.”
McMichael scored into an empty net at 18:58 for the 5-3 final.
“I think we have a high-character group, and we know that,” McMichael said. “There have been many wins this year where it’s just straight character that got it done. I think tonight was another example.”
Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves in the win.
The Capitals improved to 26-21-8.
“I thought we were just so composed (in the third period) and it played out the way you thought,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Even after giving up those two goals quickly … the composure of the bench, our next shift after that … you could just tell it wasn’t a team that was rattled and it wasn’t a team that was going to let a couple of bad scenarios determine our fate.”
Connor McMichael, who scored twice in the game, collected his double wit an empty-net strike with 62 seconds left on the regulation clock for a 5=3 win to the Caps.
The Caps took a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel struck early, giving Washington a 1-0 lead at 2:30.
McMichael potted his first of the game at 16:19 off a shot from the left side.
The Lightning dropped to 30-23-5 off their third straight loss.
“These were games where we had an opportunity to get points and we didn’t,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “This has been a team, the last few months, that has found a way to get points. For whatever reason, we’ve been a pretty darn good team here at Amalie, and to come away with zero points, especially the playoff battle we’re in, is hard to swallow.”
Tampa got one back in the middle frame when Brandon Hagel scored at 9:16 to trim the deficit to 2-1. 
The Caps restored their two-goal advantage when Anthony Mantha added amarker at 12:14 fr a 3-1 lead headed to the third period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in the loss.
“Every game is disappointing when you lose,” Paul said. “You play 82 games and we try to win them all. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen. You can’t get too hung up on it. This time of year it’s crunch time. We’ve got to find a way to win games. It wasn’t tonight, but you’ve got to be able to turn the page on [it] pretty fast.”
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