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Washington 5, Tampa Bay 1

Posted: Wednesday February 05, 2003 06:24 PM

Washington Capitals Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Washington

Tampa Bay Lightning Related Info: Team Page City Page: • Tampa

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Washington coach Bruce Cassidy vowed to give Jaromir Jagr more ice time in the second half of the season. The end result may be less of a chance for Capitals' opponents.

Jagr recorded his 11th career hat trick - the final tally resulting in his 500th career goal - as Washington blitzed the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1.

The All-Star right wing continued his red-hot play of late with a four-point night. He has 12 goals and 12 assists in his last 21 games and 60 points in 53 contests this season.

Jagr's milestone tally was a rocket that beat Tampa Bay goaltender John Grahame over the left shoulder. The Czech superstar became just the second European-born and trained player to reach the plateau, joining Jari Kurri, who finished his career with 601 goals.

"I knew I was pretty close," Jagr said. "I feel like I have a lot more years to play. I was telling myself I'd score at least two goals. I'm glad we won. It was very important. It was a big game for us, but we've still got a long way to go."

Cassidy announced during the All-Star break that Jagr would see increased ice time down the stretch, using his superstar 25 minutes a game, up from the 21 minutes per contest he averaged in the first half.

Jagr played just over 18 minutes but Washington was able to pace its regulars after getting out to the early lead.

"You can see he's got good legs and a good jump," Cassidy said. "When he gets a goal early, he gets hungry. I'm glad he's shooting. As a coach I've got to do what's best for our team. He's our marquee player, our big guy. I've got to get him some minutes."

"When I see it, I'm gonna believe it," Jagr said. "I don't think I played (25 minutes) tonight."

Jagr scored 7:27 into the first period, then twice in the opening 7:19 of the second to stake the Capitals to a 3-0 lead. Peter Bondra and Mike Grier added power-play goals later in the period.

"We approach him with the same game plan every game," Tampa Bay left wing Dave Andreychuk said. "We're going to try to limit his chances. The chances he had tonight, he scored. After that first goal, it was a different game. That's something we have to guard against. We have to stick to our game plan and realize that after one goal the game's not over. Our bench deflated after that."

Washington improved to 10-2-1 against Southeast Division opponents and is 22-6-5 against division rivals over the last two seasons.

Fredrik Modin had the lone tally for Tampa Bay, which is 11-34-6 all-time against Washington.

"I think we deflated after the second goal," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "We ended up down so early by so many goals, it was tough to judge. What's very important at this time of year is that our defensive scheme has to be better. Our commitment has to be better. There were a lot of major breakdowns in our concentration."

"They're a good hockey team, but we're able to use our size and speed down low against their defense," Cassidy said. "When we play, it's a big game. Tampa Bay got off to a good start this year. They were in first place the last time we played them, so there's no lack of motivation."

Jagr opened the scoring with his 28th goal, beating Grahame just inside the left post with a wrist shot from right faceoff circle.

The game remained 1-0 into the second when Jagr pounced on a loose puck and beat Grahame from between the circles. Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle was whistled for high sticking 6:57 into the period and Jagr cashed in 22 seconds later, recording his second hat trick in a month.

Jagr had barely finished celebrating when Bondra scored his 21st goal of the season, a power-play tally 67 seconds later. Grier made it 5-0 with a power-play goal with 6:41 left in the period.

The only other suspense ended when Modin spoiled Olaf Kolzig's shutout bid. Kolzig faced just 14 shots over the opening 40 minutes but turned aside all 14 attempts Tampa Bay got off in the third.

"Everybody played good from the first moment to the last moment," Washington defenseman Calle Johansson said. "It looked like everybody wanted to win. We know this is the stretch time coming up. There are no more breaks. No Christmas break, no All-Star break, no fall break. From here on in, this is where the real season starts."