It was a tale of two distinctly different hockey games in one between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Saturday. For the first 30 minutes of Game Three of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Caps picked up where they left off on Thursday. Carolina goaltender Frederick Andersen kept the Capitals off the board. However, Washington was the better team.
The Capitals controlled the play. They established a forecheck and generated chances. Through the neutral zone and in the defensive zone, the Capitals afforded Rod Brind’Amour’s squad little time or space to make pays.
Alas, 30 minutes of strong hockey is rarely good enough the beat a team of Carolina’s caliber. Play turned dramatically against Washington over the latter half of regulation. The result: a 4-0 shutout loss.
Washington buckled after making a critical mistake off a face-off in the defensive zone. Promptly, Andrei Svechnikov (6th goal of the playoffs) turned the miscue into a 1-0 lead for the Hurricanes at 12:34 of the second period.The goal sent the crowd at Levono Center into a frenzy, and undid all of Washington’s good work in the first part of the contest. The momentum rolled straight downhill for Spencer Carbery’s team.
The rest of the contest resembled the low points of Game One. Actually, it was worse. At least the Capitals never trailed in regulation during the series opener. In Game Three, Washington had to chase the game and did not do so successfully. The deficit doubled by the end of the second period and worsened in the final frame.
The Capitals needed to generate offense to get back in the game. Unfortunately, they didn’t muster much at all. The Caps produced just eight shots down the stretch, with five of those coming while the contest was somewhat in reach.
Through three games in this series against the Hurricanes, Washington has scored just four goals. One was an empty netter in Game Two. Meanwhile, the Capitals have only put just 56 shots on the net in this series. That’s hardly the degree of pressure needed to wear down the Hurricanes’ defense and goaltending. These areas were the key on-paper advantages for Washington heading into the series.
Breaking down the breakdown
Clearly, Saturday’s contest turned on the Svechnikov goal. The sequence started with a seemingly routine face-off in the Capitals’ zone. In fact, Nic Dowd won the draw. Here’s where things turned sour.
Svechnikov snuck from the far wing past John Carlson, who was paired opposite him. The Russian forward grabbed the puck, muscled past Rasmus Sandin and beat Thompson for a 1-0 lead. It was a play that was a matter of letting Carolina’s best player space and time to score. While the Capitals had done a lot of good to that point, the Hurricanes’ jumped on the Caps’ mistake to take control of the game.
“Guy kind of gets a little jump, shoots at the net, it goes in,” Dowd said afterwards. “It’s kind of a weird one.”
Cabery added, “Once we get down, it’s a tough spot for us. As a team, it gets off track, and our puck play after that wasn’t great.”
Storm surge
The Hurricanes drew momentum from the goal and the crowd boosted that lead and took advantage of a late power play to boost the lead to 2-0 with 1:03 left in the second, as a Jack Roslovic beat Thompson with a shot that he would have liked back.
“His glove gets kind of stuck on his pad a little bit,” Dowd said. “I mean, he makes that save nine out of 10 times. We trust him with that shot throughout the whole season. Just another kind of a quirk, and playoffs are like that.”
The Capitals did have a chance to crawl back into it with a power play of their own very late in the second and into the third, but resulted in an advantage that “wasn’t great” according to Carbery and it went downhill from there. Washington was outshot 11-6 despite trailing and eventually allowed a pair of insurance markers in a frame that saw Washington hardly putting any pressure on Andersen.
One of the concerns coming out of Game 3 clearly is Washington’s ability to put a full 60-minute effort together at this point in the season, as while the Capitals have been good in stretches in this series, they really haven’t been able to do more than smaller stretches of contests, which is something you need against a quality opponent like Carolina. Even in their first-round series against Montreal, Washington’s play has proven uneven, and they will need more consistency in order to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
Another concern has to be the play of Carlson. He was beaten badly on the second period tally. Later, he was toasted in the third period by Eric Robinson. The Cane skated past the Caps defenseman and delivered the third goal of the night for Carolina. The Washington veteran appears to be laboring. His late scratches in the regular-season make me wonder if he’s playing with an injury that is making him a liability against a speedy Carolina team.
The Capitals were an excellent third period team during the regular season. That has not been the case in the current series. Washington only managed six shots in the third period of Game 3. As time wound down, it became evident the contest was over.
Finding space for Ovie
Offensively, Alex Ovechkin had a decent contest in terms of looks at the net. It was an improvement. Even so, he’s gone pointless in the first three games of this series. After racking up four goals in five games against Montreal, Washington needs him to find his scoring touch to help power the offense. Ovechkin’s struggle also has spilled over into the power play. The Caps went 0-for-2 on Sunday.
As a result, Washington missed a vital chance to climb back into the game.
Side note: Ovechkin and Florida’s Brad Marchand are each two points behind Brian Propp for the NHL’s all-time record for career playoff points by a left winger. It would be a huge help to the Capitals if Ovechkin can tie or break the record come Game Four on Monday. Whether its Ovechkin or Marchand who gets to the mark first doesn’t really matter. The Capitals just need the immediate lift Ovechkin can provide.
Come Monday night, Washington faces a virtual must-win in Raleigh. The Hurricanes outscored the Capitals by a 16-3 margin over the last four playoff clashes in Raleigh. The Capitals last regulation win in Carolina came in 2022. The Capitals season cannot end on Monday. However, the prospect of winning three straight against the Hurricanes – one of which would take place in Raleigh – seems like a long shot.
Outlook for Monday
Washington figures to get Ryan Leonard back in the lineup on Monday. Following the sub-par offensive production, the Capitals need some someone to light a spark on the scoresheet. Leonard, who has one assist in six playoff games, sat out the last two games against the Hurricanes. Seemingly, he pressed a bit too much in trying to score his first career playoff goal.
The two losses in the series raise concerns over the Capitals’ long-term prospects in this series (and beyond). However, a stronger effort — capped with some desperately needed goals — would do a lot to alleviate those worries. The first 30 minutes of Saturday’s match and segments of the previous two games showed the Capitals are capable of beating the Hurricanes as their own game. Now it has to be sustained for significantly longer stretches.
Are the Capitals worn down? Washington is now 90 games into a grueling season with a veteran club. One wonders how much this team has left in the tank after a long and dramatic season. The Caps exceeded expectations all year but must play a taxing brand of hockey in order to do so.
For their part, the Capitals seemed upbeat after Game Three. To a man, they believe they still can be successful in this series, and remain confident.
“I don’t think after 90-something games in a season that one game, especially one we played pretty good in, the second half of the game wasn’t as good as the first. I don’t think our confidence is waning at all,” Trevor van Riemsdyk said afterwards.
Clearly, Washington needs more consistent effort and more production. If not, the series could get away from them jut like in Game Three.
