Considering all of the factors the Capitals were up against yesterday, it’s not surprising that they lost. If anything, the fact that it was as close as it was for the majority of the game is impressive (although, let’s be honest, a lot of that was down to Logan Thompson being Logan Thompson).
In fact, this was a tie game for most of the afternoon, with the two teams held scoreless for the first period and then Aliaksei Protas tying the game just about three minutes after Boston scored the opening tally in the second.
Despite the close score, though, the Caps really didn’t seem to have their heart in this one, playing tight – as were the Bruins, but not as noticeably so – and lacking any sort of “this game is important” vibes that they definitely needed to have. So when Boston’s Casey Mittelstadt sprung Viktor Arvidsson for a breakaway and Arvidsson got the puck through Thompson early in the third, a one-goal lead at that point might as well have been ten goals.
The play started with a pass from Protas that was picked off at the blue line by Hampus Lindholm – and dear god, if this team doesn’t learn not to make plays like that right at the offensive blue line, whether at even strength or on the power play, well…they’re already finding out what happens when they don’t learn that. Anyway…
Lindholm dropped the puck to Mittelstadt. He then managed a surprisingly nifty little backhand pass to Arvidsson, who had been lurking behind the defense and was in prime position to break into the Caps’ offensive zone unopposed. Neither Jakob Chychrun nor Trevor van Riemsdyk had any chance of catching him, and he was able to take a free shot at Thompson. The puck went through the five hole, the score became 2-1, and that was that.
The Caps were never able to muster any sort of comeback the rest of the way, and an empty-netter by Elias Lindholm sealed a deal that had been sealed long before he found the empty net. A huge opportunity to at least stay in the fight was squandered, and the Caps slipped further out of the playoff race.
Look, a lot can happen between now and the end of the season. The Caps have 18 games to find any sort of mojo (including another match against these Bruins in six days), and hope for some lengthy losing streaks by any of the 275 teams ahead of them. This group is capable of better than what we’ve seen over the last few games, in spite of the recent trades – and maybe the new guys will provide a bit of a spark.
But it’s getting late.