For as well as they have played all season, we all know the Washington Capitals aren’t going to win every game. It’s just the winnable ones that bother me the most. 

On Tuesday, the Capitals hosted the Flames from Calgary for the final meeting between the two teams this season, coming after an entertaining Washington win last month in Calgary. Coming off back-to-back offensive outbursts against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers — with the Oilers win being one of the most complete games they’ve played in a while — a slow and sloppy start to Tuesday’s action did Capitals in, and they were never able to recover.

Being beaten by the opponent is one thing, but it’s something else when they doom themselves. 

Let’s have a deeper look at this outing.

What went wrong?

I was really hoping the tournament break would help the Capitals recover and get over this recent trend of slow starts, but alas, it does not seem to be the case.

Calgary came out with energy and drive right off the opening draw and seemed to put Washington on its heels. Both teams traded some chances in the first few minutes, but after a controversial goal by Martin Pospisil gave Calgary a 1-0 lead (which we’ll come back to later), the Falmes seemed to really take control of the play. By the end of the period, it was 2-0, and Calgary was outshooting the Capitals 14-5 while boasting a 62.5 percent Corsi-for rating.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery acknowledged the poor play postgame, calling it “as bad a period as we’ve played all year.” While I’m not sure I’d say it was their worst first period this season, I’d certainly agree it ranks amongst the worst. And I’d be more forgiving of this if this wasn’t a trend that has plagued D.C. since roughly the end of December. 

For a great idea of how this game went, the Gameflow chart from Natural Stat Trick paints an excellent picture of how it went. 

To the Capitals’ credit, they came back with a vengeance in the second, outshooting Calgary 12-3 and finishing with a Corsi-for of 81.63 percent. The third was a bit more even, although Washington still finished that period with a 56 percent Corsi-for and a final shot count of 27-25 in its favor. But all the possession, shot attempts and chances mean nothing if they can’t beat the goalie, and credit to Flames goaltender Dan Vladar for keeping D.C. off the board for a large portion of the game. 

This is not to say that Logan Thompson did not play well, and it’s hard to fault him for the goals that got by him. Unfortunately, he was just not done any favors by the Capitals’ defensive breakdowns and lack of offensive zone cohesion.

The slow starts have been an ongoing issue that the team has been able to rally and overcome in several games now. But going down the stretch towards the playoffs, it will only get more difficult. Especially as Washington plays teams like Calgary- teams on the fringe trying to make it to the playoff dance, or teams keen on playing spoiler. And while D.C. has a comfortable lead in the division standings, this is the time to clean up ugly habits before the games really count. 

Circling back to the first Calgary goal, I’m pretty 50/50 on whether or not it was a good goal, which was the same sentiment Carbery shared in his comments after the game. There is a clear (to me anyway) kicking motion at one point in the play, but it almost appears to happen after the puck hits Pospisil’s skate.

You can be the judge of this one. The officials called it a good goal pretty quickly. To me, this is one of those ones that had the refs called it no goal on the ice, it wouldn’t have been overturned, either. Sometimes they just don’t go your way.

So what went well? 

Every time I write something about a poor Capitals performance, I need to step back and remind myself that they are still sitting in a great spot, with a comfortable lead in both the Metro division and the Eastern Conference. It’s also a good time to remind myself that this team is still getting the job done. 

Even in a loss like last night’s there are positives to take away. First of all, the one goal they did score came off the stick of our beloved Captain Alex Ovechkin, who is now 12(!) away from the record. 

I wanted to really look at this shot also, because it only amplifies why Ovechkin is probably the best pure goal scorer in the history of the game. The release on this shot is just…beautiful. After looking at that video, it’s clear Vladar didn’t see and/or expect the short pass from Carlson, let alone that quick little snap from Ovechkin. A beautiful tally for Ovi to say the least. 

And again, credit where it’s due to Washington for their ability to turn around the momentum of the game in the second period. At a point, the Caps looked like they could’ve managed to tie the game up. Managing 12 shots, 17 scoring chances (with five of those being considered “high danger”) while only allowing 3 shots against is definitely a great response to a poor start.  

The Road Ahead

Washington won’t have long to think on this loss, as the St. Louis Blues come to town Thursday night. The last time these two played was way back in November, when the Capitals handed the Blues an 8-1 thumping in STL. Ovechkin and Connor McMichael both had two-goal games, and Logan Thompson stopped 24 of 25 shots faced.

Presumably, Charlie Lindgren will start Thursday against a St. Louis team that is 4-4-2 in their last 10 and grasping at momentum to try and mount a playoff push (they currently sit four points behind Calgary for the West’s final wildcard spot). 

Let’s hope that the Capitals can avoid another slow start and avoid losing back-to-back games for only the fourth time this season.