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A great start ruined by just about everything else that came after: Senators beat Capitals 5-2

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The Washington Capitals made the journey across the border in a battle of capital cities on Thursday. Could the Caps extend their winning streak to three or would it be time to start over again against the Kings on Saturday?

TJ Oshie potted a very sweet Marcus Johansson feed on an early five-on-three advantage. Anthony Mantha would add his third of the season on the leftover power play just after Oshie’s marker.

Drake Batherson responded with two power play goals in short order in the second to tie things back up. Shane Pinto potted Ottawa’s third in a row to give the Sens their first lead. Tyler Motte and Alex DeBrincat empty netters.

Senators beat Capitals 5-2.

  • Pretty fantastic overall first period. I think they let off the gas a little for the final minutes of the frame but otherwise, they spent a ton of time in the Senators’ zone and that’s always a great sign. Two power play goals from a unit that looked like they would never score again about a week ago helped a ton.
  • On most teams, a fourth-line demotion would probably be a bad thing but Aliaksei Protas playing there tonight shows he’s actually earned more trust from the coaching staff. I don’t want to see him there long-term or anything but his game has clearly jumped a level from last season. Let’s hope that’s just the start of his growth in the NHL.
  • The legendary Pat Holden wrote a post on RMNB seven years ago about how Marcus Johansson is the absolute go-to for power play zone entries. Uh, yep. Still relevant. No one does it better than number 90 and that was on full display for TJ Oshie’s man-advantage strike. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that things started tickin’ when he was moved up to that top unit.

  • Remember all the nice things said about the first? Well, in the second the Caps completely fell out of the game. Most of that was due to the constant special teams play but they were slow at five-on-five as well.
  • Five minor penalties on the Caps in the second period. The referees had put their whistles away entirely in the first period after the early five-on-three. All of a sudden things became penalties again when the Caps were the offenders in the second. That call on Alex Ovechkin to end the period was absolutely bogus especially after you consider the fact they had already given Ottawa about 65 power plays.
  • You all know exactly why Connor McMichael felt the need to drop the mitts for the first time in his NHL career. He was scratched for the first four games of the season and played less than three minutes in the first period. He’ll get some major locker room props for that but would really prefer not to see it again.
  • I don’t want to see this Ovechkin, Lars Eller, and Conor Sheary first line ever again. Thanks. Completely invisible.

  • The third was even worse process-wise. The Caps went down in the game and instead of turning it up to find the tying goal, they shrunk and just let even more pressure on. That’s already the third time this season they’ve played awfully in a close game in the final frame. Not good.
  • Why is Shane Pinto wide open on the game-winning goal in between three different Caps? That needs to be put on tape in the room over and over again.
  • Darcy Kuemper is the only reason they were still anywhere close at the end. Would be nice if they could have helped him out on the other side of the rink. The fourth line was on the ice with less than two minutes in regulation while down a goal. Insert exasperated sigh here.

Next up, the Caps will take on the Los Angeles Kings inside Capital One Arena on Saturday night. Let’s hope things go better.

Headline photo via @OurSaviourSammy/Twitter

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