WASHINGTON — The atmosphere at Capital One Arena for opening night was electric to start, with the Washington Capitals forming a circle at center ice before getting ready to return for another season. But when the puck dropped, that energy faded, and ultimately, it led to a defeat
Tom Wilson had the lone goal for Washington, but a lack of quality offense resulted in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.
Here are all the takeaways:
Capitals Fumble Power-Play Chances, Penalty Kill Struggles
After morning skate, coach Spencer Carbery called on the power play to have more accountability and get back in the rhythm of things. When game time rolled around, though, the man advantage couldn’t answer the call.
Washington’s power play looked disjointed at times and disorganized. Clean entires were a problem, as was maintaining possession and generating high-quality chances. There were also one too many passes, and a lack of chemistry.
The Capitals managed 11 shots over the course of five opportunities, including an extended 5-on-3 look, but it was nothing that the Bruins deffense and Jeremy Swayman couldn’t handle.
Wednesday also saw the beginning of the end of Alex Ovechkin spending the full two minutes out there; he did it for one opportunity, but ultimately, got off the ice with the rest of the first unit when it was time for a change.
Later in the third, the penalty kill fumbled, allowing Elias Lindholm to streak to the net and sneak a backhand shot past Logan Thompson for the eventual game-winning goal.
Offensive Struggles Carry Over To 5-on-5 As Lines Get Tweak; Wilson Scores Lone Goal
It wasn't just the man advantage where D.C. struggled to challenge Jeremy Swayman; the Capitals had no problem generating shots, but the issue came with a lack of high-quality opportunities.
Washington struggled on clean entries and gaining momentum off the breakout, and the transition game left a lot to be desired. When there was a chance or open space, the Capitals held onto the puck or tried to hard to make the perfect play, leading to missed chances.
With D.C. struggling to find a spark, Carbery changed the forward lines in the third:
Connor McMichael-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson
Anthony Beauvillier-Hendrix Lapierre-Justin Sourdif
Braodn Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Ryan Leonard
Ultimately, in the third, it was the second line who found a spark. Tom Wilson collected a nice feed from Jakob Chychrun before sniping a top-corner shot past Swayman to tie the game momentarily. That would be the only Capitals goal in the loss, as the comeback fell short with Morgan Geekie icing the game late.
It didn't help that the puck was bouncing all night long, but regardless, Washington failed to really get much going in the offensive zone, making it easy on the Bruins defense in the defeat.