26 – Number of times this season in which the Capitals have given up at least two goals in a five-minute span, including last night in Toronto when they ceded two second-period goals in just 3:08. 16 of those were in a span of less than three minutes, and three of those were in less than one minute (which… woof).
On five separate occasions they’ve given up three goals in under five minutes, the most recent being a three-goal outburst by St. Louis in the span of 4:42, and in their loss to Nashville last week they gave up goals 2:49 apart and immediately followed that up with a goal just under five minutes later.
Perhaps most troubling is the fact that they’ve not only given up clusters of goals in short spans of time, but also that it’s happened multiple times in the same game. The most egregious was in the recent 8-5 loss to Chicago, in which the Caps gave up goals at 6:36 and 7:56 of the first, 3:45 and 7:20 of the third, and 14:57 and 18:11 (also in the third), but it also happened to them twice in each of their back-to-back losses against Vegas and Anaheim, and twice in their a loss to Montreal back on November 1.
Unsurprisingly, the Caps have gone on to win just five times when allowing these quick-strike goals, three via the shootout and one in overtime.
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