Caps Drop Fifth Straight at Home

Three weeks ago on a Saturday night here in Washington, the Caps spotted the Ottawa Senators a 2-0 lead before roaring back to win on a pair of Alex Ovechkin goals in the third period and Nicklas Backstrom's overtime game-winner.

The Sens visited the District again on Sunday, and again the Caps generously allowed their guests an early two-goal cushion. But this time there would be no late comeback heroics to come from the Capitals. Ottawa downed the Caps 4-1, handing Washington its fifth straight regulation loss on home ice.
Washington has won only three of its last 13 home games (3-9-1) and it hasn't been able to muster even three straight wins in nearly three months now, since Nov. 24-28. The home losing slide is the Caps' longest in nearly 15 years, since they dropped the last five home games of the Glen Hanlon administration from Oct. 26-Nov. 21, 2007.
"We're still up and down," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "We're win one, lose one. That's definitely not where we want to be. I think we expect more from ourselves. It's disappointing again being here in our building in front of our fans. We've got to be better than that, and we've got to win hockey games at home here here. We're getting it done on the road, but we've got to get it done at home."
Washington executed a strong early penalty kill in Sunday's game, and the Caps went on a power play of their own soon afterwards. But it was the Sens who struck first during that Capitals man advantage.
Just 26 seconds into the Washington power play, Connor Brown and Alex Formenton worked a give and go play, with the latter supplying the finish on a one-timer from the slot. Formenton's shorthanded goal gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 5:34.
Formenton's shorthanded goal was the seventh allowed by the Caps this season, tied for second most in the League.
"That's something that's happened way too many times this year," laments Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "It's on us. We've got to be better there. We can't allow them to score a shorthanded goal like that. Obviously a tough start."
Ottawa doubled its lead in the back half of the first, tacking on a transition goal at 5-on-5. With The Caps buzzing around the Ottawa end trying to create offense, Tom Wilson lost his footing and the puck, and the Sens took off on a 3-on-2 rush in transition. Ex-Cap Zach Sanford carried out of Ottawa ice, sending Chris Tierney into Washington ice. Sanford took a return feed there, and then hit Adam Gaudette coming down the weak side. Gaudette made one move on Caps goalie Ilya Samsonov, then deposited the puck in the open net for a 2-0 Sens lead at 15:11 of the first.
The Caps earned a power play in the final seconds of the opening period, and they cut Ottawa's lead in half with a power-play goal in the first minute of the middle period. After taking a feed from John Carlson up top, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin hammered a one-timer from his left dot office. Sens goaltender Anton Forsberg made the save, but Nicklas Backstrom was right there to pound the rebound past him, making it a 2-1 game at the 46-second mark of the second period.
Minutes later, Forsberg made an acrobatic stop to deny Wilson's bid for a tying tally.
Midway through the middle frame, the Caps found themselves in some penalty soup. John Carlson was boxed for an illegal check to the head of Brady Tkachuk, and with 44 seconds left on that advantage, Dmitry Orlov was sent off for tripping Nick Paul near the Caps' net.
Washington survived that tangle and went back to work trying to muster the equalizer. The Caps had a lot of zone time with a power play late in the second, but they weren't able to light the lamp. Just over a minute after completing that penalty kill, the Senators restored their two-goal cushion ahead of the final period.
Josh Brown cranked a shot from the point, and Samsonov made the stop but had no awareness of the location of the rebound. He nearly laid upon the loose puck, but Tkachuk found it first and buried it from the top of the paint, making it 3-1 with 1:36 left in the second.
Midway through the third, Tkachuk fed Connor Brown for the Sens' third 5-on-5 goal of the game. Brown's shot from the slot beat Samsonov, who wasn't sharp while playing in a fifth consecutive game today for the first time in his career. In addition to the four goals, the Sens rang iron several times on shots that got behind the Washington netminder.
Playing their second game in as many afternoons and their fifth game in seven days, the Sens looked to have the fresher legs today against Washington, which hadn't played since Thursday. Ottawa won three of five games this week while facing the likes of Carolina, Pittsburgh and Boston on home ice, and coming into Washington and taking two points today.
The Sens' Sunday win in Washington was their first here in over eight years, ending a nine-game Caps winning streak over Ottawa in the District that dates back to Jan. 21, 2014.
"It was huge," says Tkachuk of the win. "We put in a pretty good effort there and it was a fun game to be a part of - physical and fast. Those are the games that our team thrives off of. It was a fun game to be a part of, and we're happy with the outcome."