Capitals fall flat against the Rangers, ending their two-game winning streak
There were plenty of those in the Capitals’ 4-1 loss at Capital One Arena, a deflating performance that halted what had been a promising week with dominant wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres that had followed a four-game skid.
“We were building toward setting our standard of what we require out of each other, and I think we were on the right track,” forward T.J. Oshie said. “[Saturday’s game] was another look at how we don’t want to play. It shows that we are still learning as a group.”
Washington Coach Peter Laviolette had gathered his team during practice earlier in the week and talked about building off wins. After Saturday’s dud, in which the Capitals surrendered the first three goals and couldn’t gain traction offensively, Laviolette’s team instead will look to rebound when it hosts the New Jersey Devils at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Before the Capitals can get to that point, there are questions to answer, foremost what they will do in net Sunday. Whether it’s Vanecek, 39-year-old backup Craig Anderson or recovering youngster Ilya Samsonov in goal, the players will appreciate the quick turnaround.
After encouraging performances Tuesday in Pittsburgh and Thursday against Buffalo, Vanecek couldn’t save his team from its defensive errors Saturday — he gave up a first-period power-play goal to Chris Kreider after failing to secure a rebound, then gave up goals to Alexis Lafrenière, last year’s No. 1 draft pick, and Ryan Strome just under a minute apart late in the second period — and he didn’t get much production in front of him.
“I don’t think the goaltending was the problem tonight. We didn’t generate enough,” Laviolette said. “Vitek gives us a chance to win hockey games. I thought he was good. We needed to be in the offensive zone a little bit more.”
The Capitals survived a scary moment early when forward Tom Wilson headed to the dressing room after taking a puck to the face, and although he eventually returned, Washington lacked energy in the first period. The Capitals came up short on four power-play opportunities on the afternoon, and they only found life on offense when defenseman Dmitry Orlov scored his first goal of the season to make it 3-1 with less than a minute left in the second.
The Capitals scored first in the wins over the Penguins and Sabres, and they had a chance to follow suit Saturday after drawing an early penalty. But they came up empty on their first power-play opportunity — their best look came on a one-timer from Alex Ovechkin — and the Rangers were afforded a pair of man advantages when Richard Panik and Lars Eller committed penalties.
“We shot ourselves in the foot way too much today to get ourselves going, especially early on,” defenseman John Carlson said. “And throughout the game I didn’t like our response.”
With Eller in the box, Vanecek couldn’t control an Artemi Panarin slap shot off his pad, and Kreider cleaned up the rebound to make it 1-0 at 14:57. The Capitals ratcheted up the energy in the second period, producing 11 shots, but they struggled to solve Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, who finished with 26 saves.
Vanecek (20 saves) had done his best to keep Washington within one goal for most of the second period. But after Washington squandered another power play, the Rangers kept applying pressure, and Vanecek’s workload — on Thursday, he became the fourth goaltender in franchise history to start 12 consecutive games — appeared heavy for the first time in days. Lafrenière scored on a nifty backhander in front of the net with 2:16 remaining, and Strome followed with a long-distance wrister with 1:17 left to boost New York’s lead to 3-0.
Orlov’s goal cut the deficit, but the Rangers held firm in the third period and clinched the win with Mika Zibanejad’s shorthanded empty-net goal late.
Samsonov, who entered the season as the No. 1 goalie, hasn’t played for the Capitals since Jan. 17. He entered the NHL’s coronavirus protocol Jan. 20 and didn’t return to practice until Feb. 8. Samsonov said Friday that he feels ready to start for the Capitals again after completing two games with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey, Pa. — “I feel much, much better,” he said — but the Capitals assigned him to their taxi squad Saturday morning, with Laviolette indicating the Russian, who turns 24 on Monday, needs more conditioning.
After Saturday’s game, it was unclear whether Samsonov would return to action Sunday against the Devils, but regardless the Capitals will need to reignite their offense. Laviolette said after Thursday’s victory over Buffalo that he wanted his players to attack more. And while there were opportunities in the second and third periods Saturday, with three power plays and a combined 20 shots, the Capitals’ push to keep their winning streak going came too late.
“We just didn’t execute well enough,” Carlson said. “That just seemed like what was happening with us all night.”
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