Bolts falling out of sight after loss to Capitals

It wasn't too long ago when the Lightning would check out the scoreboard and match their results with what other teams were doing to see where they sat in the standings.

In a sense, that still holds true. But it's for a completely different reason.

The Lightning's 3-1 loss to NHL-leading Washington on Saturday night marked the 10th defeat for Tampa Bay in its past 13 games. After all the talk of a playoff push in recent weeks, the watch is now on to see how far Tampa Bay might fall.

While still only six points out of a playoff spot with 11 games remaining, the Lightning are just four points ahead of last-place Toronto to stay out of the Eastern Conference cellar heading into tonight's meeting with 14th-place Florida, which sits one point behind Tampa Bay.

Needless to say, the past month has been a difficult stretch for Tampa Bay, which was in sixth place as recently as Feb. 9.

"It's devastating," right wing Marty St. Louis said. "It's like there is no air right now in the room and the walls are closing in. It's tough."

Saturday's result certainly can't be blamed on a lack of effort as the Lightning looked hungry to turn things around. But as has been the case in recent games, good wasn't good enough.

In the opening 20 minutes, the Capitals looked like a team on cruise control and Tampa Bay took advantage, outshooting Washington 13-4. It didn't matter, however, as the Capitals led 2-1 heading into intermission.

Tomas Fleischmann tapped in a cross-crease pass from Eric Fehr on Washington's first shot at the 2:40 mark. That was quickly answered when Teddy Purcell fed Vinny Lecavalier in front at 6:54 for his 22nd goal of the season and seventh in the past nine games.

The tie didn't last long, as Tampa Bay's Matt Walker pinched in the offensive zone without support to cover his spot at the right point. That allowed Washington's Alex Ovechkin, fresh off a two-game suspension, to sit in waiting on the other side of the blue line to take a Nicklas Backstrom pass off the boards and break in clean. Ovechkin put a deke on Antero Niittymaki before wristing a quick shot glove side at 10:47.

It wasn't a back-breaking play, and there were plenty of chances for the Lightning to get even again, particularly on the power play, which went 0-for-5 on the night despite 12 shots on goal with the man advantage. It's a sign of the team's offensive struggles, as Tampa Bay has scored five goals during a winless four-game homestand.

"We just couldn't put the puck in the net, and that definitely falls on the top guys," St. Louis said. "We had a lot of power plays and we just couldn't get the puck in the net. We had the chances, we just didn't bury them."

Even as the team has descended into a free-fall, Coach Rick Tocchet didn't find fault in how the team played in its latest setback.

"The guys played hard tonight. They left it on the ice," he said. "Maybe we're asking a lot from some guys, I don't know, but the guys are working hard, they really are."