NHL ROUNDUP : Lightning Turned Off by Capitals

Goalie Jim Carey is 10-2-2 in 14 games in the NHL, which are the same 14 in which the Washington Capitals have moved into second place in the Atlantic Division.

If they played Tampa Bay all the time, they’d be in first.

“We just never play good against those guys,” Lightning center Brian Bradley said after a 4-2 loss to the Capitals Wednesday night at St. Petersburg, Fla. “I don’t know what it is. It was like we were playing minor league hockey out there. We just never got going, it was unbelievable.”

Carey, who started the season in the minor leagues, had something to do with it. He turned back 24 shots as Washington ran its record to 3-0-1 against the Lightning.

Carey (10-2-2) came within 12:44 of his second consecutive shutout against Tampa Bay, allowing a power-play goal by Roman Hamrlik at 7:16 of the third period. Carey had not allowed a goal in more than 158 minutes against the Lightning.

“They’re playing great right now,” he said. “There is a lot of confidence on this team right now, and they’ve been scoring when it counts.”

St. Louis 3, Chicago 1--Brendan Shanahan’s power-play goal at 3:15 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and the Blues limited the Blackhawks to 18 shots at Chicago.

St. Louis extended its winning streak to three games and stopped the Blackhawk winning streak at five games.

Hartford 4, Florida 4--Steve Rice scored twice in the first nine minutes, knocking out hot Panther goalie John Vanbiesbrouck. Rice added the game’s final goal with 11:56 to play off his replacement, Mark Fitzpatrick, to give the Whalers a tie at Miami.

New Jersey 4, Ottawa 2--Stephane Richer and Bill Guerin scored third-period goals to lead the Devils to a victory at Ottawa.