The Washington Capitals, who have dominated the Flyers on special teams all series long, had a slow start to Game Four and could never recover. Forced to play most of the night at even strength, the Caps couldn’t generate much offense until the third period. At that point it was too late.

That’s one way to look at tonight’s game. The other? Fanatics, an official partner of the NHL, hexed the Caps.

Here’s what happened.

At 9 PM, Fanatics began sending an email campaign to their Caps opt-ins, celebrating Washington’s first-round series victory. “Caps Sweep! One Step Closer To The Cup” the subject line read. Except the game had not ended and the Caps were losing. “12 to go,” the jinxy headline image read.

hey @Fanatics, you may wanna watch your automated emails 💔 @ianoland @russianmachine @E_VanBlargan pic.twitter.com/cMRny9jc83

— ashley van blargan. (@anvtrademark) April 21, 2016

Do the people at Fanatics have a time machine? I'm quite sure, according to my TV, the #Caps are down a goal. pic.twitter.com/xVOT24ww3t

— Jen Longley (@jlongley) April 21, 2016

@ianoland look at the email I just got lol #oops #waittilfriday pic.twitter.com/W1DJW4Vwz6

— Tina Butera, M.D. (@TinaBMD) April 21, 2016

If Fanatics’ email marketing team is any good, you’ll all get “Oops” emails tomorrow, which gives you a coupon code with more money off.

Anyways, thanks a lot, Fanatics. You lost us the game.

FYI – Using the s word (that rhymes with heap) is strictly prohibited until unsaid thing happens. 🚫

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 20, 2016

Thanks to Ashley and the other readers for forwarding us the email.

Full RMNB Coverage of Game Four