Here's what to know from the Capitals' lackluster 4-1 loss to the Golden Knights.
After winning back-to-back games in California, the Washington Capitals felt confident going into Saturday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights, who they had shut out at home just a couple of weeks ago. However, after a decent start, the wheels fell off quickly in a flat 4-1 loss.
Here are all the takeaways from the lackluster defeat.
Offense Fails To Get Shot Until Late, Carbery Drastically Shakes Up Lines
The Capitals had started okay for the most part despite falling 1-0 earlier on, but after that, it was all Golden Knights.
Vegas outshot Washington 27-9 through the first two periods, and it wasn't until 11:37 minutes into the second that a forward was able to get a shot on goal. At the same time, the Golden Knights swarmed Darcy Kuemper, who did a good job holding down the fort.
With his team eventually falling to a 3-0 deficit, head coach Spencer Carbery shook up the forward lines. Connor McMichael went to work with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome operated with Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha, Nic Dowd was put with Sonny Milano and Hendrix Lapierre and Evgeny Kuznetsov was demoted to the fourth line to work with Beck Malenstyn and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
Those lines were put to the test to generate some more against VGK, who did a good job of blocking attempts and holding D.C. to the outside. In the third, the Capitals managed to outshoot Vegas 13-8, but it wasn't enough.
Evgeny Kuznetsov Benched After Demotion
After being demoted to the fourth line, Kuznetsov eventually found himself sticking to the bench to close out the final 5:54 minutes of regulation.
The Russian had taken a poor roughing penalty earlier on in the game, and he wasn't able to get much going in ways of offense. Ultimately, it led to him logging a season-low ice time total of 15:20. He was Washington's forward ice time leader to start the season.
Tom Wilson Gets Lone Goal, Darcy Kuemper Strong In Unexpected Start As Charlie Lindgren Sits Out
Though the offense didn' have much to show, Tom Wilson made sure the Capitals didn't go home empty-handed and scored off a one-time feed from Dylan Strome. It was Wilson's fourth goal in two games following his hat trick in Anaheim on Thursday.
Meanwhile in net, Darcy Kuemper, who was likely going to back up Charlie Lindgren going into Saturday, was back between the pipes as Lindgren missed the game due to an illness. Hunter Shepard was the backup, but his flight was delayed and he arrived just a few minutes before puck drop, giving Kuemper no choice but to start.
The 33-year-old was solid in his showing, stopping 32 of 35 shots (.914 save percentage) while giving Washington the opportunity to stay in it. Unfortunately, the team in front of him couldn't get it done.