A Perfect 10

The Caps, as has been their form recently, found a way to win despite not playing their best. This time, they jumped out to a 2-0 lead that they relinquished before beating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, to tie the franchise record with their 10th straight win.

Both of Tampa's goals came in the early stages of the third period. As the stanza unfolded, Alex Ovechkin began to exert his dominance -- but his shots kept getting blocked. The one that finally got through was the game-winner, a beautiful conversion of an equally-artful pass from Nicklas Backstrom.

"We were frustrated as to how we started the third period. They [Tampa Bay] scored two. But we didn't give up," Ovechkin told the media after the game. "I think our line played well today. We created some good chances. Most important thing is that we scored in the third period. It’s fun when you score game-winning goal with five minutes left in the game."

"I saw [Ovechkin's] blade so I was trying to get the puck to his blade," Backstrom added. "I had a little bit of luck there."

After a scoreless first period, the Caps got on the board off Backstrom's stick, who poked in a rebound off Ovechkin's stick that barely trickled past Lightning goalie Mike Smith less than a minute into the stanza. It was Backstrom's 23rd goal of the season, a new career high.

Brooks Laich added to the lead at 12:56 when he caught Smith out of position.

But the Lightning made it interested with an even-strength goal from Martin St. Louis at 5:00 and a power-play goal from Steven Stamkos at 7:42. But Ovie made sure this version of the Caps tied the 1983-84 squad with 10 consecutive wins.

The Caps finished January at 13-2-0, setting a franchise record for most victories in a month and tying the franchise record for most points (26) in a month. The previous wins record was set when the Caps went 12-2-2 in December 1984.

The Caps have another busy week ahead with four games.