Charlie Lindgren did everything he could to keep the Washington Capitals in Monday's contest, a tight afternoon game that D.C. started off on the right foot, but it wasn't enough to help D.C. out of its recent struggles against the high-flying Colorado Avalanche.

The Capitals struggle with consistency, and though a stronger start showed promise early, they weren't able to keep it going, and a tired third and lack of urgency throughout led to a 5-2 loss to Colorado.

Here are the takeaways from the team's third straight loss.

Coming in against the red-hot Avalanche, who are off to one of the best starts in NHL history, Washington knew it'd have its hands full. So ultimately, D.C. got off to one of its best starts, a welcome change from the last handful of games.

Despite giving up the first goal on a deflection from Parker Kelly, the Capitals mostly kept the Avalanche at bay, and also drew a number of penalties to put themselves on the man advantage.

Jakob Chychrun was fundamental in that hot start, picking up his third goal over the last two games with an early power-play strike. It marked his 18th goal of the season, tying him with Zach Werenski for the most goals among defensemen this season.

After a strong first, the Capitals fell into some trouble in the second period, taking a handful of penalties that helped Colorado shift the momentum.

Nathan MacKinnon scored on the tailend of a double-minor power play to restore the lead for the Avalanche, and from there, Victor Olofsson was able to score on a rebound in front to widen the margin after no one caught him crashing the crease.

Needing a goal, the Capitals got a spark from a new-look third line featuring Alex Ovechkin, Nic Dowd and Ethen Frank. It took some time, but the captain found chemistry there on that trio.

Ovechkin's vision worked well with Dowd's awareness and Frank's speed, and they ultimately combined for a goal in the second as Ovechkin found Frank in front to pull D.C. back into the fight just 17 seconds after Olofsson's goal.

Frank now has five goals in his last six games and continues to provide a boost to the lineup, and Ovechkin's 22 assists are among the most of the team. Eighteen of those helpers are primary. Meanwhile, Dowd has points in back-to-back games.

While it provided the team with a sign of life, D.C. was still left trailing entering the third, a pattern that's become all-too familiar of late, and  the third made no difference.

The penalty kill and Charlie Lindgren had to come up big time and time again as the Capitals took a handful of penalties, including going down two-men early in the third. Thankfully, the PK, and Lindgren, were up to the task.

Lindgren came up with a number of big stops in the final frame, including two glowing stops on Nathan MacKinnon, another on Brock Nelson on a semi-breakaway.  and a third on Martin Necas on the doorstep.

He also got some help on a coach's challenge, which finally went in D.C.'s favor, as Martin Necas was in the crease and interfered with Lindgren as Cale Makar scored a backdoor goal. That in itself kept it within one.

However, a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Avalanche restored the two-goal lead, where Artturi Lehkonen made it 4-2. Later in the third, with Washington trailing by two, Rasmus Sandin fumbled the puck behind the net, and Necas picked it up and found MacKinnon in front of this second of the game to put things definitely out of reach.

Lindgren's big night, featuring 38 saves on 43 shots and a late tripping penalty to stop Olofsson in tight, wasn't enough to spark the Capitals, who managed just three shots to Colorado's 17 in the final frame and appeared to run completely out of gas.