Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - The Washington Capitals hope to build a commanding three games to none lead tonight when they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning to MCI Center for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Washington has history on its side as it enters the contests, as Tampa Bay has lost in 11 consecutive trips to our Nation's Capital. The Lightning have not won in DC since November 4, 1998.

On the flip side, though, the Capitals have had their share of collapses in the postseason. Twice in a seven-game series the Capitals have lost the set after jumping ahead 2-0; in 1992 and '96 against Pittsburgh.

"This team has had problems closing out series; the pressure is on them," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "They're supposed to win it now, and we are just going to come out and play. There's no pressure on us. People have written us off."

Washington has built its series lead on the strength of a 3-0 victory in the opener and Saturday's 6-3 triumph. Jaromir Jagr, who had been a concern due to his injured wrist, erased doubt with a two goal and two assist performance in Game 2. Peter Bondra tallied twice as well, and Michael Nylander added a score and a helper. Olaf Kolzig finished with 40 saves for his 20th career playoff win.

A win tonight would mark the first time in their history that the Caps have held a three games to none lead in a best-of-seven set.

Kolzig has been the clear winner of the netminding duel between he and All- Star Nikolai Khabibulin, who continues to battle his playoff demons. The Bulin Wall is 10-15 in his postseason career, and has already allowed eight goals on 52 shots in this series.

"There's no question that Nik needs to look straight down the ice [at Kolzig], and that's the guy he needs to beat," said Tortorella, who juggled his lines at Monday's practice. "That's how you crawl back into a series like this. That's the key."

Khabibulin will also need some help from those in front of him, especially where penalties are concerned. On Saturday the Capitals were afforded six power plays and they cashed in on three of them.

The Lightning, of course, are in the postseason for only the second time in their history, with the other instance taking place in 1996. Tampa fell to Philadelphia in six games, and the Bolts' last playoff victory occurred on April 21 of that year, as Alex Selivanov beat the Flyers in Game 3 with an overtime goal for a 5-4 victory at what was then called the Thunderdome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg.

Game 4 will be played Wednesday night at the MCI Center.