Canes Cruise Past Caps, 4-1

In the wake of a listless 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh in Saturday night's Navy Federal Stadium Series game, the Capitals spoke of the need for urgency, the need for them to start playing playoff style hockey right now, in late February. And they spoke of the need to restore their once prominent but now dormant swagger.

"I think we've got to get our confidence back," says Caps winger Tom Wilson. "We've got to get our swagger back a little bit. It's tough when you lose a couple in a row, but we're going to regroup here and try and get the team together here and build on it, because there is no time to waste. It's an important time of year and every point matters. This isn't good enough, obviously. We've got to get going here and get back to work."
What's less clear to anyone right now is how exactly to go about achieving those goals while the sands of time continue to slip away on the Caps' season.
Following a big win over an elite Bruins team in Boston a week ago, the Caps returned home for a crucial home heavy stretch of hockey in which they had a pair of three-game homestands sandwiched around Saturday night's grand spectacle in Raleigh. But after falling to the red-hot Hurricanes for the second time in three games on the big outdoor stage on Saturday, the Caps find themselves lugging a four-game regulation losing streak for the first time in over two years, since Feb. 1-14, 2021.
"They were the better team," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "They were faster. We couldn't get out breakaway speed out of our end, couldn't get through the neutral zone. Offensively, they were quick to defend; we couldn't get off the walls, couldn't get to the front of the net. They played at a different gear, and they won most of the battles as well."
"No breakouts, nor forecheck, no neutral zone play," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom in summing up the Capitals' fourth straight loss. "So it was pretty flat out there."
"We're not in synch," says Caps center Lars Eller. "We're just struggling to complete two passes in a row tonight. And for whatever reason - it's tough to analyze why that is right now - it starts with just the real basics. I think the plan is there for the execution, we've done it plenty of times this year, but we're just poor [at] execution right now, and we're missing 10-15 percent from I feel like everybody. Some shifts it's there, but it's not there consistently the last four games."
The Capitals looked great getting off the bus for Saturday's Stadium Series game in Raleigh. They looked sharp in their white letterman's jackets, with the names of loved ones embroidered on the sleeves. But things took a quick southerly turn when Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored on Carolina's first shot of the game at 2:11 of the first period.
During the life of its four-game losing streak, the Caps have not held a lead at any point. Twice they've yielded a goal against on the first shot of the game, and in three of the four games they've been down a goal before the midway mark of the first.
Although the Canes outplayed the Caps in the first, Washington netminder Darcy Kuemper kept the deficit at one with a number of good saves on scoring chances from high danger areas.
In the second, the Canes took full control of the contest, scoring three goals in less than six minutes to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
Paul Stastny started the barrage, scoring from the top of the paint on a rebound after Kuemper made two quick stops just prior to the goal, which came at 5:47.
With Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov in the penalty box for hi-sticking in the offensive zone, Martin Necas pushed the score to 3-0 on a Carolina power play at 8:48, labeling a one-timer past Kuemper from the left dot.
Frederik Andersen was the winning goaltender for the Canes, and he helped his cause with a long stretch pass to spark a 2-on-1 rush on which Carolina extended its lead to 4-0 at 11:17, with Necas feeding Teuvo Teravainen for the Canes' third goal of the period and third in a span of just five and a half minutes.
While Carolina was in the process of scoring those three goals in the second, it was also in the midst of holding Washington without a shot on net for more than 11 and a half minutes.
Playing his first game since suffering a lower body injury in Colorado on Jan. 16, Wilson spared the Caps the ignominy of a shutout on the Stadium Series stage, scoring his third goal of the season at 10:32 of the third.
"I think we need to help each other a little but more, support the puck a little bit more, want the puck," says Wilson, when asked how the Caps can regain their swagger. "Like I said, it's just a little bit off. Guys are getting pucks, it's kind of bouncing over, guys are skating past it. We've just got to work for each other, and I think it's one of those things where if a couple of pucks go into the net and guys start feeling better and making plays, then we can build on that."
"I think the only answer to getting some swagger back is to get wins," says Caps winger T.J. Oshie. "And to get wins right now, we need to play a playoff style hockey. While we're missing the big man [Alex Ovechkin] and we're missing John [Carlson], we need to play a playoff style hockey with the lineup we've got to start winning games. Play a little simpler, and then maybe once we start feeling it, we can make some of the higher end plays. But things have got to be simple and everyone's got to be on the same page."
Less than two months remain in the regular season. Less than two weeks remain until the trade deadline.
"We're kind of running out of room here," says Caps winger T.J. Oshie. "Concern? I don't think 'concern' is the right word. I think our playoff hockey probably starts in this next week here, otherwise we're going to be outside looking in. It's more just a realization that we need everyone playing a playoff style if we're going to climb back into this thing."