Fehr scores twice for Washington
TAMPA, Fla. — Eric Fehr scored two goals, Mathieu Perreault had three assists and the Washington Capitals won their third straight game by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Thursday.
Troy Brouwer and Jay Beagle had the other Washington goals.
Martin St. Louis, Teddy Purcell and Nate Thompson scored for the Lightning, who have lost six in a row (0-5-1). Tampa Bay backup goalie Mathieu Garon got the start in place of Anders Lindback, who is ill. Garon finished with 35 saves.
Washington took a 2-1 lead on Fehr’s in-close goal at 5:09 of the second. It was his 100th career point.
Fehr made it 3-1 on a slap shot from the top of the right circle 2:22 into the third. All three of his goals this season have come over the past two games.
Beagle extended the Washington advantage to 4-1 when he scored while lying on the ice during a goalmouth scramble at 7:29 of the third. It was his first goal in 15 games.
After Purcell scored at 12:02, Thompson’s breakaway goal cut the Lightning deficit to 4-3 with 3:13 left. Tampa Bay scored three third-period goals in a 4-3 shootout loss to Montreal on Tuesday night.
Brouwer put the Capitals up 1-0 from the slot during a power play 2:40 into the game. He has a goal in three consecutive games.
St. Louis stopped a 10-game goal drought when he jammed a rebound past goalie Braden Holtby at 8:23 of the first. The right wing, who has 26 goals and 73 points in 70 games against Washington, hit the post early in the second.
Holtby finished 27 saves.
Notes » Washington center Nicklas Backstrom had an assist, giving him 24 assists and 29 points in 30 games against the Lightning. …
Tampa Bay acquired Cedrick Desjardins from Montreal for Dustin Tokarski in a swap of minor league goalies. …
Washington defenseman John Carlson played in 200th NHL game, making him the 11th player from the 2008 draft class to reach the milestone. He picked up an assist. …
The Lightning assigned left wing Pierre-Cedric Labrie and defenseman Brendan Mikkelson to Syracuse of the American Hockey League for conditioning assignments.
