"We're getting stuck in our zone for long periods of time and it seems like we're chasing guys around," said Caps defenseman Brooks Orpik after Saturday's loss. "So maybe we have to switch something there; I don't know. Because there are a handful of shifts where we get stuck for a minute or plus. That tires you out - the way we're chasing the puck, that and obviously we had some bad turnovers throughout the game."
When the Caps dropped a 3-1 decision on home ice to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 11, it ended a season-high five-game winning streak and a season-high 10-game winning streak on Capital One Arena ice. But the Caps have won only two of their last seven home games (2-3-2) and are a middling 6-5-4 in 15 games since.
Most alarmingly, the Caps have allowed 53 goals over that span for an average of 3.53 per game. Only four teams in the league - both New York teams, Montreal and New Jersey - have permitted more goals than Washington over that span, and all four teams have played more games than the Caps during that stretch,
Washington's offense over the same period of time is averaging just over three goals per game (3.13), which should generally result in more victories, save for the team's porous defense and occasional leaky goaltending over the last several weeks.
We're now just over a week away from the NHL's Feb. 26 trade deadline, but without much in the way of salary cap space or attractive trade assets, it's difficult to envision the Capitals being able to make substantive changes to their roster between now and month's end. The Caps might be able to make some minor adds to their depth chart without giving up too much in the way of future assets, but team's best hope is straighten out whatever it is that's currently ailing it.