Lightning Beat Capitals 3-1 in Home Opener as Vasilevskiy, Hagel Spark Bounce-Back Win

The Tampa Bay Lightning won their home opener Saturday night, beating the Washington Capitals 3-1 at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa two days after a lopsided season-opening loss in New York. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves, Charle-Edouard D'Astous and Conor Geekie scored in the first period, and Jake Guentzel sealed it with an empty-net goal as the Lightning evened their record at 1-1-0.

Brandon Hagel assisted on both first-period goals, and defenseman John Carlson, the longtime face of the Washington blue line, picked up an assist against his former team in his first game facing the Capitals.

A fast start in Tampa

The Lightning wasted little time. At 2:26 of the first period, Hagel found D'Astous at the top of the right circle, and the defenseman snapped a wrist shot past Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren on the short side, over the blocker, for a 1-0 lead, according to NHL.com.

Hagel set up the second goal the same way. At 16:30 of the first, he fed Geekie in the right circle, and Geekie's one-timer beat Lindgren on the stick side to make it 2-0.

Washington got one back at 7:04 of the second period. Jakob Chychrun sent a shot from the point and Justin Sourdif redirected it past Vasilevskiy from the slot to cut the lead to 2-1.

That was as close as the Capitals would get. Vasilevskiy held the one-goal lead through the third, and after Washington pulled Lindgren for an extra attacker, Nikita Kucherov sent the puck to Guentzel for an empty-net goal at 17:55. Carlson also earned an assist on the play.

The scoring summary below shows how the game unfolded.

Lindgren finished with 27 saves for Washington, which also fell to 1-1-0.

Bouncing back from New York

The win came two days after a forgettable opener. On Thursday at Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers beat the Lightning 5-1, and Igor Shesterkin became the first goalie in Rangers history to score a goal when he put the puck into an empty net late in the third period, according to NHL.com. Kucherov scored Tampa Bay's only goal in that game, and Vasilevskiy made 20 saves.

The Lightning managed six shots on goal in the third period at Madison Square Garden despite nearly seven minutes of power-play time, NHL.com reported, and coach Jon Cooper criticized his team's limited pushback afterward.

Players said Saturday's response was deliberate. "I think maybe we came out flat on Thursday, but that game was past us and we couldn't let it happen again," Geekie said, according to NHL.com.

Hagel said the Lightning competed all over the ice and in their own zone, and felt they might have deserved a few more goals. "We stuck with it and were able to grind one out," he said, according to NHL.com.

Cooper said Saturday's effort was the standard. "What you saw tonight is what we expect night in and night out," he said, according to NHL.com.

Carlson faces his old team

The night carried extra meaning for Carlson. The 36-year-old defenseman spent 17 seasons with Washington, according to Bay News 9, and left as the Capitals' all-time leader among defensemen in games played, goals, assists and points. Washington traded him to the Anaheim Ducks in March, and he signed a two-year, $17 million contract with Tampa Bay as a free agent in July.

Against the Capitals, Carlson finished plus-1 in 20:35 of ice time, NHL.com reported, with the assist on Guentzel's empty-netter.

Milestones and a Capitals injury

The game included several individual marks:

• Kucherov's assist moved him into a tie with Joe Nieuwendyk and Mike Bossy for 67th in NHL history with 1,126 points, according to NHL.com.
• Vasilevskiy and Washington center Dylan Strome each played their 600th NHL game.
• Guentzel finished with a goal and an assist, and Hagel had two assists.

Washington lost defenseman Matt Roy to a lower-body injury in the third period, and he did not return, according to Bay News 9. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said the first period put his team behind the eight ball and ended up costing it, NHL.com reported. Lindgren noted that it was still a 2-1 game late in the third period against a really good team in its own building.

Storylines for the Lightning

The home opener also offered an early look at a roster in transition. Besides Carlson, Tampa Bay signed forward Ilya Mikheyev to a four-year deal over the summer and traded forward Nick Paul to Toronto in a deal that brought back goaltender Dennis Hildeby and draft picks. The Tampa Bay Times reported that captain Victor Hedman has returned to the lineup in a lesser role than he has filled for most of his career, and that Kucherov's contract extension remains unresolved. Both storylines figure to follow the club through the early weeks of the season.

The Lightning enter the season with a decorated core. Vasilevskiy won his second Vezina Trophy and Kucherov his second Hart Trophy last season, and Cooper won the Jack Adams Award as the league's top coach.

For now, the Lightning's younger contributors carried the night. D'Astous and Geekie produced the first-period goals, while the veteran core of Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Guentzel and Hagel did the rest. For fans in Tampa, it was a more familiar version of a team that has been one of the NHL's most consistent winners over the past decade.

What's next

The Lightning stay home to host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday at 7 p.m. at Benchmark International Arena, the downtown Tampa venue known as Amalie Arena until it was renamed in August 2025. The Capitals host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay will look to build on Saturday's structure, particularly its defensive play in front of Vasilevskiy, who allowed one goal on 20 shots. A win Monday would give the Lightning their first winning record of the season heading deeper into October.