THE RESULT:  For the second time in a week, 41-year old goalie Dwayne Roloson shut out the Washington Capitals, leading his Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-0 win, securing first place in the Southeast Division for the time being.

The loss is the fifth time the Caps have been shut out in their last 25 games.

Domonic Moore, Sean Bergenheim and Simon Gagne scored for the Lightning, who own the top spot in the division by two points over the Caps, and sit second in the Eastern Conference trailing Philadelphia by just two points.

It was Washington's first regulation loss in ten games.

The Capitals were simply outplayed all evening.  Continuing a theme we've noticed for a while, Tampa took the body early and often against the Caps and Washington just didn't respond until things were already well out of hand.

It was the second straight game the Caps got down 3-0, but unlike Tuesday's game in Florida where they stormed back to force overtime and earn a standings point, Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the Caps couldn't muster enough energy for a comeback.

The Caps took just 23 shots on goal against Roloson, making his second appearance against the Caps since being traded to Tampa by the cellar-dwelling Islanders.  Roloson was rarely tested though, as most of the Caps shots against came from outside the circles, and the Caps managed just 12 shots on goal during five-on-five play.

Washington's forwards were content to fling shots from the perimeter, but unwilling or unable to find the requisite determination to crash the net looking for rebounds.

Playing on back-to-back nights on the road in the NHL is tough.  But no one wants to hear excuses.  The Caps did not come out to play last night and it showed, on the ice and on the scoresheet.

Veteran forward Mike Knuble tried to put it into perspective after the game. “It took a lot of energy [Tuesday] night to catch up and if you keep asking your team to do that all the time, it’s tough. Coming in back-to-back, you’ve got to get the lead. It’s pretty important because we chased so hard [Tuesday] night to scrape out a point.”

But despite the lackluster performance, it was just the first regulation loss in 10 games, and the Caps still own the league's seventh-nest record overall.

Are there problems?  Sure.  The power play went 0-for-2 last night and  is as anemic as it has ever been, going 8-for-75 (10.7%) with the extra man in its last 20 games.  The penalty kill is still working well, but the Caps are taking entirely too many penalties, especially in the offensive and neutral zones. 

And the Caps two best players, Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom, are having historically bad runs right now.

As bas as all that is, the Caps are still seventh overall in the league.  I'm sure there are a dozen teams that would LOVE to trade places, problems and all.

It's only Jan. 13.  There's plenty of time to get things sorted out.  They've already weathered an eight-game losing streak, rebounding with a 6-1-3 stretch.

It's not time to panic.  Yet.

THE GOOD:  John Carlson.  No goals allowed.  Led the team with five shots.  Caps killed all five extra-man opportunities for Tampa.

THE BAD: Jeff Schultz.  The Bolts scored three goals.  He was on the ice for all three.  Schultz looked lost last night. 

Dishonorable Mention: Tom Poti.  Scratched from the Florida game, he returned to play just 5:38 and didn't take a shift after the first period.  He was already minus-2 when he left.  If you're a puck-moving defenseman and you can't move, you're a liability.  He should be shut down.

THE UGLY:  I'm still wondering how Scott Downie only got two minutes for punching Scott Hannan in the face twice while another player was holding Hannan down -- and Hannan got four for roughing.  Miscarriage of justice.

THE STATS: No goals.

NEXT GAME: Friday night against Vancouver Canucks at 7:00 pm at Verizon Center.  Vancouver current owners of NHL's best record (28-8-6).

CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS

3. Scott Hannan.  No goals allowed, and his original check on Downie was a thing of beauty.

2. Semyon Varlamov.  35 saves on 38 shots.  Left to his own defense much of the night.

1. John Carlson.  No goals and five shots for.  Turning into a real leader on the blue line.

The Washington Capitals today traded forward Tomas Fleischmann to the Colorado Avalache for 31-year old defensive defenseman Scott Hannan, a man Alex Ovechkin once described as "the toughest defenseman to play against." 

Hannan, in his first words as a Capital, said he was "really excited, going to a team in first place with a great chance to make a run for the Stanley Cup."  Hannan waived a no-trade clause to come to D.C.

The 6'1", 225 left-handed stay-at-home defenseman was a piece to a puzzle GM George McPhee had been looking for for several seasons. 

"He's at the point in his career where he's been in the league a long time and wants to win a [Stanley] Cup, and I think it completes our defense," McPhee said. "We're really happy with the way our defense has been playing, but to add one more guy like this helps. Our defense moves the puck pretty well -- we can generate offense from back there -- but to have one more shut-down guy that can block shots, that can do all the little things that would make a difference, we thought was important to add."

Hannan was selected in the first round of the 1997 HNL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks, where he spent the first eight years of his career, building a reputation as a tough, gritty defenseman, willing to block shots and rough it up in the crease with the opponent's top forwards. 

He signed a four-year, $18 million free agent contract with the Colorado Avalache in 2007 (which expires at the end of this season), and some in the Denver media felt like he never lived up to the terms of the deal.

Hannan will count almost $3.2 million against the salary cap for the rest of the season, but, "We're in good shape," said McPhee.  "As I've said many times, we've managed our cap really well and it allows us to do a deal like this. He has an expensive contract but we have the room to do it."  Even taking on Hannan's contract, the Caps will still have significant room under the cap for future deals.

McPhee also indicated that the Caps have been trying to acquire Hannan since August.

Regardless of his contract status, Hannan is one of the most durable players in the NHL.  He has played no fewer than 75 games in a regular season since becoming a full-time player in the 2000-01 season, and has 73 playoff games to his credit.

The combination of size, strength and experience should be a boon to the Caps' back line.  The acquisition really bolsters a defensive corps that has seen its share of injuries already this season, with Tom Poti, Mike Green and Tyler Sloan all missing significant playing time.

It's easy to project Hannan playing with Poti on a pairing, allowing coach Bruce Boudreau to use John Erskine, who himself has stepped up his play this season, in more of a matchup role.  It also allows the Capitals to not have to rely on Sloan or Brian Fahey, player that have struggled as much as anyone that has pulled on a red sweater this season, as their injury replacements.

Fleischmann posted career numbers in 2009-2010, but disappeared in the playoff for the second straight season, and was a healthy scratch in the deciding game with the Montreal Canadiens in the first round last year.  He was re-signed in the off-season on a one-year deal, but has struggled this season in a  transition to center, prompting Boudreau last week to say, "He's a natural wing.  I think that's where he belongs." 

Fleischmann recorded just four goals and six assists in 23 games this season with the Caps after a 23-28-51 (+9) campaign in 2009-10.  He was a healthy scratch in Friday's shutout win over Tampa Bay, widely considered the Caps' most complete game of the season.

Confirmed by team officials, the Washington Capitals have traded forward Tomas Fleischmann to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Scott Hannan.

Hannan is a 31-year old left-handed defenseman.  He is dependable, having skated in the most games of any defenseman in the league since the 2002-03 season.  He had appeared in 267 of 269 regular season games since singing with Colorado in 2007.

Hannan is in the final year of a four-year, $18 million contract. Hannan has most notably played for the Avalanche and San Jose Sharks.

We'll have much more on this deal as details become available.