The victories began mounting throughout January as the Capitals time and again overcame early deficits.
Those comeback wins — five in all that month, including three in games they trailed 2-0 — taught a valuable lesson to one of the NHL’s youngest teams. Now, the Caps need to learn another one: How to withstand prosperity.
In the midst of a fight for the Southeast Division title, Washington (28-26-7, 63 points) has hit a roadblock in recent days. In each of their last three games the Caps have blown a third period lead, including Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders.
“We kind of get sometimes a little tentative,” said Caps forward Brooks Laich, who scored his 10th goal of the season against New York. “When we’re playing our way we don’t think about the other team. We just go after them and forecheck … [But] when we get a bit of a lead sometimes we think we have enough goals to win. We have to keep playing.”
The Caps were up 2-0 on the Islanders in the first period. They were ahead 2-0 late in the third period at Tampa Bay on Saturday, but allowed two goals in 33 seconds. It took a follow-up tally by forward Alexander Semin to pull out that win. And Friday at Florida, a 2-1 third-period lead turned into a disappointing 4-2 loss.
Those struggles actually began Jan. 31 when the Caps led Montreal at home 3-0 and 4-2, but allowed a pair of goals late in the third period. Forward Alex Ovechkin’s four-goal brilliance, including the game-winner in overtime, saved them that night. On Feb. 6 in Philadelphia, the Caps almost blew a 4-1 lead in the final 10 minutes, but held on for a 4-3 win partly because the Flyers had a goal overturned by instant replay.
“It’s a mentality we talk about not playing prevent defense [to protect a lead],” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “Every team plays desperate hockey and when you do that and take some chances and get good goaltending it’s not hard to get back in it.”
