Stop us if you’ve heard this one, but the Capitals played an uneven game last night (and “uneven” may be putting it too kindly), a sluggish middle frame almost dooming them. As had been the case against Vancouver on Wednesday, last night’s game once again required more than 60 minutes to decide the outcome.
Unfortunately, unlike their outing against the Canucks two nights, this one didn’t go their way, as Nick Suzuki snagged the extra point for Montreal.
So how did it happen? It actually started with a two-on-one the other way by the Caps, with Aliaksei Protas muscling the puck away from Lane Hutson in the defensive zone to kick off the rush. He sent the puck up to Dylan Strome, who circled back in neutral before returning it to Protas. Protas then headed in on a two-on-one with John Carlson, where he had two choices in this moment – try to pass to Carlson, or take the shot himself:
He chose…poorly. Observe:
Yeah, that’s Cole Hutson’s brother making the block to send the odd-man rush the other way, with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki – probably the last two Montreal players you’d want out there in that situation if you’re the Caps – bearing down on Logan Thompson. Strome was forced to play defense and actually did a decent job of cutting off the pass; unfortunately, that nice stick-check just bounced the puck back to Suzuki’s stick, and he made no mistake of putting a backhander past Thompson for the win.
Look, this was yet another in what has become a too-long line of less-than-stellar outings by the Capitals, and it’s natural to be frustrated at what we’re seeing right now. This is not the team we’re used to watching, and we know they can play better.
Is it time to panic? No…not yet, at least. It’s only January, lots of hockey left, and thanks to that healthy cushion they’d built in the standings in the first few months (and the points they continue to accumulate even during this slump) they’re not really losing any ground. That cushion, while probably at least part of the reason for these recent doldrums, also gives them time to work some stuff out.
The coaching staff and the players will need to figure out what it takes to motivate them back to playing the way we’ve seen them play. They’ll get a chance to try and find that right away, as they have a quick turnaround from tonight’s loss before taking on the Predators in Nashville tomorrow.