Despite the scoreboard, Tuesday's contest between the Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild didn't begin as lopsided as it would turn out to be. Ultimately, though, things got out of hand, and, the Capitals have their work cut out for them when it comes to getting back on track.

Once again, Washington couldn't get anything going offensively, and ultimately, lapses in coverage and a lack of discipline led to a 5-0 loss to the red-hot Wild, who picked up their fifth straight win.

Here are all the takeaways as D.C. dropped its third straight contest and fourth in five games:

Capitals Offense Can't Find Spark, Lines Put In Blender

Though they had a fair share of chances, the Capitals couldn't really find that chemistry or spark against the Wild.

Minnesota blocked plenty of shots and did a good job of breaking up plays, while the execution just wasn't there for Washington's forecheck. And, when the team did get shots on goal, Filip Gustavsson was there to shut things down, shutting Washington out with 25 saves.

It's been the same story for the Capitals over this past stretch, though, with the offense failing to find a lot of chemistry or generate a lot of high-danger opportunities.

It led coach Spencer Carbery to tweak lines in the third, as Justin Sourdif moved from center to the first-line wing to operate with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. Connor McMichael replaced Sourdif down the middle between Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, while Anthony Beauvillier took McMichael's spot on the fourth line with Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime.

Those changes will likely continue to come for Washington.

Lapses In Coverage, Lack Of Discipline Costly For D.C.

The Capitals found themselves behind the eight ball early on Tuesday, as poor coverage and an unintentional screen in front of Charlie Lindgren led to Vladimir Tarasenko making it a 1-0 game just minutes into play.

Beyond that, Washington didn't stay disciplined, taking three penalties that, ultimately, led to a power-play goal for Kirill Kaprizov as he chipped home a rebound from Joel Eriksson Ek and Quinn Hughes.

Beyond the lack of discipline, there wasn't much structure or defensive awareness in front of Lindgren, as miscommunication, poor reads and errors led to Tarasenko striking again and, later on, Danila Yurov crashing the crease alone in front and Matt Boldy beating out D.C. on the power play to strike shorthanded.

Lindgren stopped 26 of 31 in the loss and his first game back in net since recovering from an upper-body injury.

Special Teams Lackluster In Loss

The Capitals' special teams struggles continued once again, as the Wild took away Washington's time and space on the man advantage.

Washington's struggles continued on the power play without Ryan Leonard in the mix, as the team went 0-for-2 and surrendered a shorthanded goal to Matt Boldy late in the third.

The Capitals are now 1-for-15 over the last five games following a strong finish to the month of November.

On the flip side, Washington's penalty kill went 2-for-3, though it looked shaken up at times by Quinn Hughes and Minnesota's deep power play.