The Capitals’ goaltending was once more the story for all of the unsuitable causes, their protection confirmed it nonetheless wants work and their offense struggled to capitalize for the second straight recreation.
“We are a good team,” Alex Ovechkin mentioned. “It’s just kind of momentum, maybe in our mind something’s going to happen, but if we want to have success, we can’t play like that. Obviously we knew it’s going to be tough game, it’s going to be a very good opponent that’s going to play against us, and obviously the leadership group and all of us have to play better.”
The Capitals have been down 3-0 coming into the third interval and misplaced any hope of a comeback when Marcus Foligno added on 30 seconds into the ultimate body. Hathaway received Washington on the board at 10:28, when Ovechkin’s shot on a delayed penalty hit Hathaway’s skate and received previous Cam Talbot, however it was too little, too late. The purpose was Hathaway’s eleventh this yr, tying a career-high.
Minnesota capped off the night time with an empty-netter from Nicolas Deslauriers with 2:45 left. The Wild, which was enjoying the second recreation of a back-to-back, is 9-0-1 in its final 10 video games.
Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek had one other troubling efficiency, permitting 4 objectives on the Wild’s first 13 photographs. He completed with 14 saves.
Before the Capitals’ loss to the Wild (43-20-5), they suffered a 6-1 loss to Carolina on Monday. Vanecek gave up 5 objectives in that recreation. The Capitals hoped their subsequent break would offer a wanted reset for the lengthy stretch forward, however Sunday’s outcomes weren’t promising.
Washington’s subsequent recreation is Wednesday at dwelling in opposition to Tampa Bay earlier than it performs Saturday at Pittsburgh and Sunday at dwelling in opposition to Boston.
“I think we just have to forget this game,” Ovechkin mentioned. “Our last two games we didn’t play our best. We just have to move on. Next game is going to be big one.”
The Wild opened the scoring Sunday with Joel Eriksson Ek’s purpose on a semi-breakaway 36 seconds into the sport. Tyson Jost adopted it up 1:01 later with his purpose from the circle on an odd-man rush.
The Capitals performed a bit higher in the second interval however conceded one other purpose 13:07 in when Eriksson Ek slid an unsecured puck below Vanecek’s pads. That made the rating 3-0, and the groans from the gang grew louder.
Most of the frustration might need been targeted on Vanecek, who has allowed 9 objectives in his previous two video games. Washington opted to not commerce for a veteran goaltender on the mid-March commerce deadline and as an alternative caught with the inexperienced duo of Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov. With each struggling, Washington may very well be dealing with one other first-round playoff exit — if it holds onto its positioning because the second wild-card workforce in the Eastern Conference.
One constructive for the Capitals is that they’re getting more healthy. Trevor van Riemsdyk and Nic Dowd each returned Sunday from accidents suffered March 18 in opposition to Carolina. Van Riemsdyk supplies one other anchor for a Capitals blue line that has struggled in latest video games.
Here’s what else to know in regards to the Capitals’ loss to the Wild:
After the Capitals acquired Johan Larsson on the commerce deadline, he lastly made his Capitals debut in opposition to the Wild. Larsson had sports activities hernia surgical procedure in early February and was nonetheless on injured reserve when the Capitals traded for him two weeks in the past.
Larsson slotted in on the fourth line subsequent to Dowd and Hathaway. The Capitals are hoping Larsson will fill Carl Hagelin’s defensive-focused position on that line. Hagelin, who had eye surgical procedure in early March, remains to be progressing and has been across the workforce in latest weeks. He is out indefinitely.
Larsson is a two-way participant that may play wing or heart. His first shift got here after the Capitals have been already down 2-0.
“I thought he was good,” Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette mentioned. “He works hard. He competes. It’s hard to get a good evaluation on a game like tonight, but I thought he played good.”
McMichael a wholesome scratch
With Larsson and Dowd each out there, Washington was pressured to make powerful lineup selections Sunday; it scratched Connor McMichael and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.
McMichael was having a powerful late-season run for a rookie. His confidence was rising each recreation, and his pace and creativity allowed him to create offensive possibilities for his teammates. Laviolette began to play him extra at heart, McMichael thought he had discovered his stride, and his linemates have been producing.
Kaprizov lastly meets Caps
Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild’s star, performed his first profession recreation in opposition to the Capitals. Kaprizov is a famous fan of Ovechkin, his fellow countryman. Kaprizov, 24, additionally named his cat, Kuzy, after Kuznetsov. Kaprizov started following Kuznetsov’s profession after he gained gold with Russia on the 2011 World Juniors.
Kaprizov’s affinity for Ovechkin was additionally on show on the All-Star Game. Kaprizov did his greatest Ovechkin imitation in the course of the expertise competitors, sporting his jersey and yellow skate laces and then reacting to a purpose with Ovechkin’s scorching stick celebration.