Courtesy: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports
WASHINGTON — Despite the Washington Capitals holding a two-goal lead for the first 17:15 of the game, the Anaheim Ducks diminished the margin with three unanswered goals as the Capitals fall to former bench boss Bruce Boudreau and his troops 3-2.
The two-goal lead is the third Washington has blown in the last two games alone as the Capitals held 3-1 and 4-2 cushions over the New Jersey Devils, but eventually fell in the overtime period 5-4. The loss didn’t come from a lack of effort as the Capitals challenged the Ducks and made a late push for the game-tying goal, but puck-watching and allowing the bigger players of Anaheim to bully them ultimately cost them a shot at heading into the Christmas break a winner.
“[We] can’t let two-goal leads go like that,” Capitals forward Brooks Laich told reporters. “Especially at the end of the period, giving up two goals in the last minutes of periods is not acceptable.”
Laich participated in his first game action since Nov. 27 against the Ottawa Senators at home. A groin injury sidelined the 30-year-old for 11 games as he played on the fourth line along with Jay Beagle and Tom Wilson. Laich also saw some action on the penalty kill and appeared to regain his legs after the first few shifts. While Laich likes the burst of most forwards, his abilities as a two-way player are something this Capitals team needs going forward.
“[My] first three, four shifts were kind of getting my legs under me,” Laich said. “It’s been a month since I’ve played. And after that as the game went on, I actually felt better.”
It wasn’t as shocking as some of the Capitals’ other defeats given their problems at the back end this season. The Ducks are a team where no lead is safe regardless of the amount of time left on the clock as they are the top team in the NHL with 59 points through 39 games for a reason. They have dominant goal-scorers in Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. They have youthful talent like Andrew Cogliano who can skate like the wind. They have brawn with guys like Dustin Penner, Cam Fowler and Ben Lovejoy. And Jonas Hiller between the pipes isn’t half bad either.
When facing a juggernaut like Anaheim, focus has to remain constant throughout the entire 60 minutes of regulation. Center Nicklas Backstrom noticed his team wander away from the task at hand and got comfortable at times.
“We’ve got to be more focused,” Backstrom said. “When we had a lead 2-1 there, before the second ends, [Ducks scored a goal] that was a tough one. It’s not acceptable at all and thinking that’s something we have to look at ourselves. We have to make sure we all do a better job. It’s not good enough. ”
And that starts from the top. Captain Alexander Ovechkin took 14 shots yesterday and came up empty. While one of his shots was disallowed on what was a questionable no-goal call, he felt that after the first period, Washington should have buried Anaheim.
“To be honest with you, I think we played [a] perfect first period,” Ovechkin said. “Second period we fell [behind] because [of] lots of penalties. I didn’t they did something special.”
What can’t be coached is size and athleticism and the Ducks have plenty of it. Despite Philipp Grubauer putting up a 26-save performance, the 22-year-old had trouble seeing the puck towards his net.
“They did a good job getting the bodies in front,” Grubauer said. “They did a really good job screening me.”
This loss can’t be pegged on one particular unit as the Capitals were bad in their defensive zone and their inability to possess the puck and create offensive opportunities ultimately cost them in this contest. Head coach Adam Oates said despite his team giving up two late goals in the first and second periods, there’s no excuse for feeling sorry for themselves and being able to overcome adversity.
“If you don’t get scored on before the start of the second, start of the third period, you just feel a little bit better about yourselves that’s all,” Oates said. ” We’re not a young team. We’ve got a lot of veterans who have been through that before and we had a decent third period.”
Decent isn’t good enough when playing the best team in the NHL, but thankfully, the Capitals and the rest of the league get a break for the holidays before they take the ice next. Washington will have a morning skate Friday at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex before taking on their bitter rival the New York Rangers Friday night at Verizon Center.
