Sunday afternoon Lightning goaltender Olie Kolzig said he wasn’t quite sure what kind of a reception he would receive from the fans inside Verizon Center. Well, if he was worried, he had no reason to be.

When the Lightning came out first onto the ice for pregame warm-ups the fans recognized the former Capitals’ netminder right away and gave him a warm reception as he stepped onto the ice. They cheered his name again when he was announced as part of the starting lineup for Tampa Bay.

And if that wasn’t enough, just before the start of the national anthem, there were plenty of fans screaming his name which could easily be heard in the relative silence of the ceremony. One fan was heard shouting “We love you Olie!” and then during the national anthem, as the “O’’ in “O, Say Does that Star Spangled Banner’‘, the fans turned into an “OOlie’’ chant.

During the first television timeout, the Capitals put up a video tribute to Kolzig highlighting his career in Washington and the franchise records in which he holds. He received a standing ovation throughout the video, which got louder as the tribune went on. The video ended with a head shot of Kolzig with “#37 Olie Kolzig, A Capital Forever’’ on the scoreboard.

I’m not sure how much Kolzig heard of the cheers or saw of the tribute, but I can bet he was thinking much more about the first two Washington shots that got past him, although you can’t really put the blame on him for either. On both plays the trailing defenseman was left unchecked giving first Tom Poti and then Mike Green wide open chances. On the Green goal, former Washington defenseman Steve Eminger was caught behind the play when a pass attempt from Marty St. Louis was disrupted by Nicklas Backstrom, allowing Alex Ovechkin to lead the rush.

The Capitals continued to ruin Kolzig’s homecoming when Eric Fehr fired a one-timer from along the far left boards. That gives Washington three goals on seven shots.