Ovechkin speaks after the OT loss to the Jets The Washington Capitals' Saturday night showdown with the Winnipeg Jets had all the storylines one would expect from the two top teams in the league. Not only are they atop their respective conferences, but they both sit atop the league leaderboard in goals per game and goals against per game, while Logan Thompson and Connor Hellebuyck also rank above the rest. Had you turned on the game after the mid-way point, you'd have been treated to a fast-paced and hard-hitting hockey, with some beautiful goals scored by both teams and great saves by both goalies. Unfortunately, the strong second half wasn't enough for Washington, and the Jets would ultimately prevail in overtime, 50-4. So let's look at the storylines coming out of this one, and see how the future looks for Washington. NOT QUITE SURE OF CAPITALS' ROUGH FIRST PERIOD The first period was...rough. The Capitals struggled to form any real cohesion and were simply flat. Meanwhile, the Jets came out with urgency and momentum, and immediately took control of the game. Before Washington knew what hit it, the team was in a 2-0 hole to climb out of. To their credit, the Capitals did climb out of that hole. The second period was certainly a better period. Pierre-Luc Dubois kept his hot streak going, scoring his 12th of the season against his former team. That momentum didn't last long for D.C., though. Winnipeg quickly restored the lead to two goals, but Taylor Raddysh struck back with his first goal in 27 games to pull the Capitals within one again. Shortly into the third, though, the Jets gave Washington another two-goal deficit to deal with, and though it did, the start didn't do the team any favors. Washington finished the first period with a terrible 24.39 percent Corsi-for rating, yielding 31 shot attempts and nine high-danger scoring chances to the Jets. The second period was fairly even and the Capitals played a much better third, but that was a mighty big hole to crawl out of. This has been the running theme in many games of late. Slow starts can be overcome, but it cannot be a regular issue. Even the best teams will burn out quickly and the comebacks become less and less likely as the season goes on. Washington has the talent and work ethic to turn the tide of a game, but the Capitals also need to get back to setting the tone of the game from the start. They're very capable of this as well. At risk of sounding like I'm beating the dead horse, the poor start really showed on the defensive side of the puck. Winnipeg's forwards were given too much room to work and left to take shots at will at Logan Thompson. Logan Thompson certainly didn't have a bad game in net; though some he may want back, others were the result of bad bounces and poor coverage in front. LT did lock in and made several excellent saves by the time it was all said and done, though, and it's hard to fault the goalie on much of anything when the team in front of him isn't playing well. SEE-SAW TILTS BACK IN CAPITALS' FAVOR IN LATE SECOND, THIRD The third period has been typically the best period all season for the Capitals, and despite an early goal by Josh Morrissey, D.C. managed to control the flow of play for the third. In fact, the later part of the second period and the third was more like what we all expected from these two teams — a fast, fluid game with hard-hitting and playoff undertones. Speaking of hits, Washington definitely turned up the physicality once it got its game going, and finished the game with 24 hits to Winnipeg's nine. That seemed to work. The increase in physical play seemed to throw the Jets off their game and rattle them a bit. Granted, Winnipeg still held it together, but it was enough to let the Capitals back into the game, with Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin scoring in the third to tie it up. This is just what Washington should have started the game with. Speaking of Ovi... OVECHKIN GOAL WATCH Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEyNTU1MjgxNzUyNjYzNTYx/usatsi_25321271.jpg] Yes, you get half-off your pizza tonight, because the illustrious captain scored career goal No. 877, tying the game 4-4 in the process: Watching Ovechkin launch this one by Hellebuyck and then celebrate in front of the fans holding up the "O" and "V" signs was poetic. Kudos to the two fans who made that happen. The 39-year-old is now 18 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. ONTO THE NEXT ONE It doesn't get any easier for the Capitals, as they host the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday. These two met on Nov. 25th in Florida, with Washington prevailing 4-1. Enough has been said about Florida, and the Panthers' talent needs no explanation here. They have arguably one of the most complete rosters in the league, with plenty of talent and depth on offense, defense and in goal. This is a game that D.C. will need to set the tone in early. The Capitals will need to bring the energy they exhibited in the third period last night to come out with two points.
