Tampa Bay (5-4-4) at Washington (7-4-2), 7:00 pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Capitals have found a way
to win despite Alex Ovechkin's scoring slump.
Ovechkin hopes to snap a nine-game goalless streak and lift the
the Capitals to their third straight win when they host the
Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
Coming off a 65-goal effort in 2007-08, the 23-year-old reigning
Hart Trophy winner has just two goals this season.
Winning four of their last six, the Capitals have yielded just
five goals in their last three games and goaltender Brent
Johnson's strong efforts have seemingly forced coach Bruce
Boudreau to handle a starting goalie controversy.
Johnson has started three straight games in place of Jose
Theodore and posted a 2-0-1 record with a 1.63 goals-against
average. Johnson is 3-1-2 with a 2.12 GAA in six games, while
Theodore is just 4-3-0 with a 3.44 mark this season.
Lifting the Capitals to their second straight win, Johnson
finished with 28 saves in the team's 3-1 drubbing of the New
York Rangers on Saturday.
Washington has been sparked by Alexander Semin, whose 11 goals
has him tied with New Jersey Devils left wing Zach Parise for
second in the NHL.
Tampa Bay snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over
the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday. Goaltender Mike Smith has
started the past four games, but veteran Olaf Kolzig may get the
nod from coach Barry Melrose in this game to face his former
team.
Kolzig spent the previous 16 seasons with Washington, going
301-293-23 with 63 ties. However, when the Capitals traded for
Cristobal Huet midway through the season, Kolzig was relegated
to the bench and opted to sign with the Lightning this past
offseason.
The 38-year-old Kolzig is 1-1-1 with a 2.67 GAA in three games
this season.