The goals appear to come out of the blue. The Capitals will be cruising along playing a fine game, and all of the sudden a simple mistake proves costly.
It happened repeatedly Friday in a 5-0 loss to the Devils. It happened just once against the Flyers on Sunday — but that was more than enough in a 1-0 loss. And Tuesday against Carolina, in a game in which it put a season-high 49 shots on goal, Washington still gave up far too many odd-man rushes, including one in overtime that led to the game-winning goal by Justin Faulk.
It’s a worrisome trend that has contributed to what so far has been a 1-2-1 homestand. That’s not what the Caps imagined when they began this stretch hoping to improve on their playoff position. Instead, they enter Thursday night’s home game against Tampa Bay two points out of the No. 8 spot.
| Up next |
| Lightning at Capitals |
| When » Thursday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| TV » CSN |
“We were doing it earlier in the season where we just kind of get a mental lapse for a few minutes and we get scored on in bunches,” said forward Troy Brouwer, who admitted one of those goals against was a direct result of him losing his man in coverage. “It seems that when we get scored on, we get scored on in bunches.”
Indeed, the Hurricanes registered two goals in a span of 3:39 on Tuesday to erase a 2-0 Washington lead. Later, defenseman Dennis Wideman tried to keep a puck in the offensive zone as the Caps buzzed the Carolina net. He missed, and Brandon Sutter raced up ice for an easy breakaway goal. Later, Wideman pinched into the offensive zone during four-on-four play in overtime. That left partner Mike Green in a bind as the Hurricanes took off on a two-on-one. Faulk scored, and the Caps lost a valuable standings point.
“I think we’re just making mental errors. That play at the blueline was a mental error,” Wideman said after Tuesday’s loss. “You can’t make those at any time. You can play your best game all night and play solid and then have one mistake that costs you a hockey game.”
Washington is just two points ahead of the 10th-place Lightning and two points behind No. 8 Winnipeg with a game in hand. It still controls its fate, owning the top tiebreaker with 31 regulation wins. But with six of the next seven games on the road, the Caps can’t afford to drop any more points at Verizon Center. That starts with limiting those key errors.
“It’s split-seconds out there that the player has to make the right read. And if they make the wrong one, a player’s going to get burnt on it,” Caps coach Dale Hunter said. “We’ve got to read better. We’ve got to maybe side on the defensive side instead of the offensive side late in the game like that.”
