Once again faced with the back end of a back-to-back set, the Caps looked to follow up their solid win in Toronto with a victory over the Red Wings. Unfortunately, their first meeting with Detroit and their new head coach did not go to plan – and it all really boiled down to the first period.
It was clear pretty much from the start that the Caps did not have their legs under them, and the Red Wings were quick to take advantage, controlling the play and cashing in with an early goal by Alex Debrincat:
That set the tone just over three minutes in, immediately putting the Caps back on their heels. A bad penalty by the returning Lars Eller just a few minutes later didn’t help matters – and this time, it was the worst-possible person scoring a goal:
Eat a porcupine, Patrick Kane.
Anyway. Alex Ovechkin wasn’t about to go quietly in this one, cutting the lead to one about five minutes later…but Detroit fired back almost immediately with two goals in quick succession, including Debrincat’s second, and that was about it. Not a great start for the team, from Charlie Lindgren on out, and there poor start ultimately cost them the game.
In kind of a throwback to the 2023-24 season, an Alex Ovechkin helped salvage some good feelings in this one, as he moved to 24 back of Wayne Gretzky’s goal total. That, plus a push later in the game by the team to keep the score relatively under control, brought some positives to a game that didn’t have a whole lot of good going for it.
They’ll have a chance to bounce back tomorrow when they host the Bruins in a matinee to wrap up the 2024 slate (and perhaps get a little revenge for the pre-Christmas loss at the hands of Boston).