**Brayden Point's Unusual Hat-Trick Not Enough as Lightning Fall to Capitals**

In a thrilling encounter on Thursday, Tampa Bay Lightning's star Brayden Point achieved his fifth NHL career hat-trick in a highly unusual manner during a match against the Washington Capitals. Despite Point's impressive performance, it was the Capitals who ultimately triumphed with a 5-4 victory at Amalie Arena.

Point had already netted two goals when Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren inadvertently secured Point's hat-trick by mishandling the puck into his own net. Reflecting on the gaffe, Lindgren admitted, "It was obviously the worst mistake I've probably ever made in terms of on ice... I don't know what I was thinking." However, Lindgren redeemed himself by making several crucial saves following the error, ending the game with a total of 25 saves.

Tampa Bay had maintained the lead for a significant portion of the match, bolstered by early goals from Point and Michael Eyssimont. However, the Capitals saw Andrew Mangiapane, Aliaksei Protas, and Dylan Strome all find the back of the net to keep the game intensely competitive.

With the score tied at 3-3, Point’s third goal briefly put the Lightning ahead before John Carlson and Tom Wilson struck back to secure the win for the Capitals. Wilson’s late power-play goal proved decisive in shifting the game's balance, giving the Capitals a record of 15-6-1 for the season. Meanwhile, the Lightning fell to 11-8-2.

Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper, who was marking his 900th NHL game, acknowledged the evenly matched nature of the contest. "I thought tonight, both teams probably deserved a point... everything was pretty much even," Cooper commented after the game.