Photo: X/@Capitals
Spencer Carbery said following Tuesday’s 5-3 loss against the Minnesota Wild that the Washington Capitals were in “playoff mode” and Wednesday’s showdown versus the Colorado Avalanche was one of the biggest tests of the season to prove to the league that the Caps can still contend. They failed that test catastrophically.
The Caps could not slow down Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon, who had a natural hat trick in the second period which turned out to be the difference, along with adding a fourth goal to his name. But the wheels really fell off after Cale Makar’s late short-handed tally in the first period. A period where the Capitals controlled play.
But ultimately the Capitals fell 6-2 and have now lost three straight games in regulation for the first time all season. Meanwhile, Washington dropped its fourth straight contest on the road.
Here is what stood out.
Can’t Slow Down Speed
The Avalanche are one of the fastest teams in the NHL and have one of the fastest players in the league. Though the Capitals did a pretty good job shutting down Colorado’s top line for the first period, by matching their speed and keeping them to the outside, the Caps got away from that for the rest of the game.
“They found ways to capitalize on their breaks, we just couldn’t. They had the timely goals, we didn’t,” Tom Wilson said after the game. “I think we took it to them in the first and then from there they started tilting the ice and we just got to find a way to kill that momentum if and when we can in a game like that.”
Lifeless Power Play; Penalty Kill Succumbs To Lethal Avalanche Power Play
Washington’s power play continues to be incredibly inconsistent. It has been on point some nights, and completely off on others. Against Colorado it was 0-for-5.
There was too much perimeter play and not enough traffic in front of Alexander Georgiev. On the final power play of the game, the Capitals could not register a single shot and on the fourth one, they allowed two short-handed chances. The Caps struggled with their zone entries once again and could not retrieve pucks in the corners.
“When it comes to the little details, we got to find a way to keep those ones out of our net. We obviously can’t be getting scored on the power play and our power play just wasn’t good enough tonight,” Dylan Strome said. “When you’re not scoring five-on-five, the other assets of your game have to be good and obviously tonight they weren’t great.”
The Caps’ penalty kill has been quite good as of late but against the Avalanche, who boasted the seventh-best power play in the league coming into the game, it struggled mightily with coverage. More specially, the Capitals struggled to cover the seam passes, which is how MacKinnon scored his first two goals.
Strong First Period
This was the thing that was the most frustrating in Wednesday’s loss. The Capitals played an outstanding first 20 minutes. They got a lot of chances and shut down Colorado’s top line. However, Makar’s short-handed goal at the end of the period turned the tide for the rest of the hockey game.
“I know the scoreboard will not reflect that whatsoever but I liked a lot of the things that we did from an energy standpoint, structure standpoint, offensive zone, even some entry stuff which has been a struggle for us,” Carbery said after the game. “Obviously the difference in the game is three of the best players on the planet.”
The Caps were getting to the inside and connecting on their passes up the rush and in the offensive zone, along with executing on their breakouts.
“We were delivering more pucks so you can see there was more activity around Georgiev even though there weren’t necessarily Grade-A’s, but there was a puck going inside there, then we got it back and then we’re attacking again,” Carbery said. “We had more o-zone time tonight than they did. I mean if you would have told me that at the beginning of the game, I want to tell you that’s a recipe for success and I would expect [it] to not be a 6-2 game.”
The Capitals outshot the Avalanche 10-9 in the first period and only had one high-danger opportunity.
Notable Numbers and Observations
- Rasmus Sandin had a glorious opportunity in front of the net and Alexander Georgiev stuffed him. Sandin has yet to score this season and has been incredibly snakebit
- Charlie Lindgren did everything he possibly could to keep the Capitals alive.
- The Avalanche had 11 high danger chances and the Caps had 9 at 5v5
- Colorado outshot Washington 31-25
- Alex Ovechkin did not register a single shot on goal and was -2
- The Capitals blocked 15 shots
The Capitals play their final game of the road trip and before the All-Star break in a matinee showdown against the Dallas Stars.
By Jacob Cheris
