For the second time in three games, the Washington Capitals fell behind 3-0 and once again, a late rally wasn’t enough to tie the contest up. As a result, the Caps lost game five, 3-2, and now trail their best of seven series with Tampa, three games to two. Game six is Monday night at Capital One Arena at 8 pm.
Here are nine thoughts on a very tough loss at Amalie Arena, where the home team finally won for the first time in this series.
Poor Period Starts Costly – The Caps gave up goals 19 seconds into the game and 33 seconds into the second period to Tampa’s fourth line! That is inexcusable and was the biggest difference in the outcome. Washington was not prepared mentally to start either period. On the first goal, Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuzentsov made soft plays to lose the puck in the neutral zone and then Orlov badly misplayed the two on one going for the disc and missed badly, which left Cedric Paquette all alone on Braden Holtby (19 saves). On the second period Bolts tally that made it 3-0, Anton Stralman goes around Matt Niskanen like an orange road cone and forced the Holtbeast to have to make a one on one stop. The Caps defense and team was caught flat footed for large stretches of the first 21 minutes.
Bad Zebras! – Referees Wes McCauley and Mark Joannette plus linesmen Johnny Murray and Matt McPherson had a terrible night. On Tampa’s second goal, an Ondrej Palat shot from the slot that Niskanen screened Holtby on, Steven Stamkos CLEARLY trips Orlov at the Washington defensive blue line before the tally and there is no call. As a result the game was 2-0 where it should’ve been 1-0 with a Capitals power play coming. NBC’s Mike Milbury was adamant that the trip should’ve been called and it was at a crucial point in the game. There is NO EXCUSE for missing such a critical infraction that leads to a scoring chance. In addition, Ryan Callahan’s goal, after Stralman went around Niskanen, went in off of his glove. You can argue either way on that one, but once again, the call didn’t go the Caps way. There were also several missed icing calls on the Bolts when the Capitals were storming the castle in periods two and three. The officials cannot be a factor in the outcome of a game and they absolutely were in game five. The Capitals had no power plays in this affair. Unacceptable officiating, once again, and the league should be ashamed, especially after game four was called so well by Chris Rooney and Gord Dwyer. Tampa has at least two or three goals in this series on bad or missed rulings (the Bolts second goal in game two after the terrible high sticking call on T.J. Oshie, the uncalled Stamkos trip in game five, and arguably the power play goal after the Wilson penalty in game two where Chris Kunitz escaped an obvious hooking call).
Stuck in Quicksand – The first period was a disaster. The Bolts had 13 of their 22 shots for the game in that frame and if not for Holtby, it could’ve been worse than 2-0. Washington showed no sense of urgency in their play and weren’t moving their legs. When guys like Callahan and Stralman are going past you, your effort is not where it needs to be. It was a very disappointing start by the Caps in such a critical game. Yes, the missed penalty call hurt, but as we’ve seen for years, if you put the game in the referees’ hands, you will almost always not like the outcome.
Final Forty Push – After it was 3-0, we saw a different Capitals team. Unfortunately, it was too late. The Caps started skating, moving their feet, and being physical. For some reason in that first frame Washington was afraid to hit anyone or use their body to win a puck battle. Against a team like Tampa, you have to be engaged physically and mentally on all shifts, otherwise they will burn you with their effort and skill. The Caps have a lot of skill, but the will was missing in the first 21 minutes and now they have a hill to climb to come back and win this series. Over the last 40 minutes, the shots on goal were 26-9 for the Capitals. They also hit some posts, too. Christian Djoos struck iron off of a faceoff win when it was 3-1 in period two and Alex Ovechkin hit the cross bar when it was that same score in period three. John Carlson had some great looks in this one and missed the net in the second frame in close and in the dying seconds he couldn’t get off a one timer on a great feed. When he tried to go top shelf, Andrei Vasilevskiy (28 saves) slid over and cut off the short side to save the game for Tampa.
Scoring Drought – After putting up 10 goals in the first two games, the Capitals only have six tallies in the last three tilts and two of those have come with the goalie pulled. Washington is not getting enough net presence on Tampa and the Bolts are doing a good job of clogging the shooting lanes. The Caps have to simplify their attack and make the Bolts scramble in their own end. They did some of that in stretches, but we also saw guys passing up quick shots in the slot and a return of bad drop passes. North-south hockey is how the Capitals have to play if they are going to win game six. Come across the blue line and fire the puck on net. That forces the Bolts D to turn and go get the rebounds and with Washington coming with speed, they can then hit the Tampa defense and force turnovers.
Line Changes – Coach Barry Trotz adjusted his lines for period two putting Nicklas Backstrom back with Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. That line was on the ice for the Callahan tally that made it 3-0, but played better after that. Backy is clearly not close to 100%, but with Kuznetsov having a poor first frame, something had to be done. Kuzy would score the Caps first goal on a deflection of a Niskanen point shot in period two and he, Oshie, and Chandler Stephenson played fairly well together. Ovi heated up in the third frame and his rocket cut the game to 3-2 with 96 seconds left. The Caps nearly tied this one up late, but again, they need to be much better earlier.
On Fumes? – Lars Eller struggled and looked slow for much of this contest after taking five penalties in games three and four and you can’t help but think that playing all of those extra minutes with Backstrom out has taken a toll on him. However, after sitting on the bench for a good stretch in period three, he came out with some jump with the extra attacker on and looked better. The Caps need #20 to return to form if they are going to win game six.
Clearing the Mind – The Capitals have seen a 2-0 series lead turn into a 3-2 deficit yet there have been some lengthy stretches where the Caps have carried the play. Washington can’t focus on any of that and must make sure they are ready to go from puck drop on Monday night. They have to play hard and smart. They have been prone to the big mistake in this series and that’s why they are on the brink of elimination. Tampa has blown a 3-2 lead before, just two years ago to the Penguins when the Bolts also had home ice advantage. Washington must come out and check from the get go. No soft plays and make the simple decision, which is usually going north with the puck up the boards. The start in game four was good right up until Michal Kempny’s poor decision to try a blind back pass up the middle of the ice. Kempny was much better in game five, but Niskanen and Orlov along with many others didn’t come ready to play. This team has been resilient all year. Many have already written them off, but until one team wins four games it’s not over. The Capitals need to give everything they have on Monday night to force a game seven where anything can happen.
Notes: Washington won the faceoff battle, 27-26, and Backstrom won 12 of 17 draws with a bad hand…Carlson led the Caps in ice time with 25:54 and he also led the team in shots on net, with eight…Djoos played 15:06 on the back end since the Capitals were trailing and he was very good at moving the puck. He needs to look to shoot a little more, since he has a good one…Tampa’s fourth line of Kunitz, Paquette, and Callahan logged nearly 15 minutes and was +2. They simply outworked the Capitals when they were on the ice and that’s something the Caps need to address…shot attempts were 29-8 for Tampa in period one and 51-19 for Washington the rest of the way.
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