For their first game without their captain, Thursday’s tilt against the Colorado Avalanche looked promising for the Caps. After outshooting the Avs through the first 17 minutes of the game, Pierre-Luc Dubois was able to find the scoresheet for the second time this season (and his first with a goalie in net) after he buried a centering pass from Tom Wilson in the slot to put the Caps ahead:
The next period was comparatively listless for the Caps, who lost their lead after a flukey bounce off of Matt Roy’s skate ended up in the back of the net. Connor McMichael had a golden opportunity to put the Caps back up top on a breakaway…
And would do so again…
…and couldn’t break through on either opportunity.
That would set the stage for an even third period, where the Avs would go up by one after a deflection from Miles Wood’s stick found its way past Capitals goalie Logan Thompson. The offense struggled to get going until towards the end of regulation, where despite tilting the ice in their favor and peppering Alexandar Georgiev, the Caps couldn’t get the bounces they needed as they dropped their first of a two-game homestand.