The Washington Capitals weren’t, like, top-to-bottom bad against the New York Rangers on Tuesday; they were just bad when it mattered. They were sort of terrific at gaining the zone and generating scoring chances, which is super nice, but an outpouring of turnovers and some blasé defense doomed the effort.

Oscar Lindberg scored first, exploiting some terrible Caps defense and Alex Ovechkin’s near-castration. Ovechkin got his revenge soon after with a goal of his own, but the period ended with the Rangers up 2-1 thanks to Kevin Hayes’ tricky snipe goal.

The Caps entered a two-goal hole early in the second period when Japers Rink’s Kevin Klein beat Braden up high. Washington started a rally, but Derick Brassard ended it with a gutshot through an uninvolved defense. Marcus Johansson tipped in Karl Alzner’s shot late in the period to put the Caps back in a less-terrible two-goal hole.

Same story in the third. The Capitals had all the possession and momentum, but the Rangers had the killer instinct. Example: Jared Stoll’s backbreaking goal as a power play expired. Some more stuff happened and then the buzzer went off.

Rangers beat Caps 5-2.

• The Caps were on the right side of the ice for almost all of this game, but they were so damn sloppy when they had to play defense. And it wasn’t a team-wide issue; there were some particular bad actors wearing Caps white out there.
• Not bad actors: Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov, who crushed it on both sides of the puck. They’re exceeding expectations at this point; maybe it’s time to take them off the leash and give them some big minutes against big players. What’s the worst that could happen —  a 5-2 loss against a division rival in a game which your team dominated possession?
• In an alternate universe, TJ Oshie scored his 5th and 6th goals of the season in MSG while Donald Trump sold airbrushed Tupac shirts outside under a Pacific Rim 2 billboard. These are my thoughts.
• Alex Ovechin always ups his game for MSG, but tonight he took a spear, made a face-first diving block, scored a pretty one, and almost shattered Kuznetsov. I’d say that’s game which has been too upped. Notch it back one, Ovi.
• In the second period, Bond villain Jesper Fast collided with Ovechkin (who, let’s be real, was the catalyst here) and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuzy got the worst of it for sure, but he kept playing. From ya gal Steph:

Ovi hits Fast and Kuznetsov pic.twitter.com/Su4BubUXSk

— steph (@myregularface) November 4, 2015

• The Capitals must’ve been fired up after that third NYR goal, the one Orpik wasn’t on the ice for. After that, the Caps had one hell of an offensive-zone shooting gallery and would have scored if not for an heroic effort from JT Miller. And then the Rangers scored again.
• The Rangers had two (2) shots in the second period and both of ’em ended up in the back of the net like tuna in the brine. PDO d’oh.
• Chandler Stephenson and Brooks Laich, who are kind of a plucky duo, both had sterling scoring chances late in the third. Neither converted because Brooks Laich will never ever score. #thebank
• Brooks Orpik wasn’t on ice for the Rangers’ third goal. Just that one. It’s faster to say it that way. Trotz might’ve noticed as well: as Pat said, Orpik ranked last in ice time after two periods. Weird, in the bad way, not weird in the cool, David Lynch way.

Joe B suit of the night

Tough, stupid beat for the Capitals. They played good (check this out), but bad mistakes and badder bounces are all it takes in this silly sport sometimes. They basically doubled up the Rangers’ shot total, and yet here we are, reckoning with defeat, searching for something positive from this game…

Oh. Hi Nate.

Tuesday’s game was special for Nate Schmidt, not because he had some kind of breakthrough performance, but rather because people finally noticed how great he always has been. The Caps would do well to make him a core part of their defense. If he and Orpik swapped spots tonight, this might’ve been a win for Washington. That’s my snide sign-off for the night. Peace out.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers