The Washington Capitals sincerely tried to beat the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. They didn’t though.

After two disallowed goals for Florida, Dylan Strome crashed the net to put Washington in the lead. That lead lasted for two minutes, when Carter Verhaege scored after Nic Dowd got unlucky. Aaron Ekblad’s layup on the power play gave the Panthers a brief lead, but Tom Wilson caught them on a bad line change to tie it up late in the second period.

With one minute left in regulation, Matthew Tkachuk shot from above the circles and Barkov tipped it, then Sam Reinhart got the empty netter.

Caps lose. Their sixth in a row. They have one win in their last ten games.

• Given the Caps were down their best player and missing a forward and at the tail end of a cursed season and after it had seemed like they had given up and maybe rightly so, they didn’t actually play too bad. I don’t think the shot-attempt stats that Chris will share tomorrow will be too kind, but I felt like Washington was in it until Florida got determined in the third period.
• Matthew Tkachuk would have scored in the first period, but the goal was disallowed because he played it with a high stick. From the NHL:

Video review determined Matthew Tkachuk’s stick was above the height of the crossbar when he directed the puck into the Capitals’ net. According to Rule 78.5 (vi) that states in part “Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee . . . When the puck has entered the net after making contact with an attacking player’s stick that is above the height of the crossbar. Where the puck makes contact with the stick is the determining factor.”

• (That review took five minutes.)
• Sam Reinhart would have scored in the second period, but the goal was disallowed because he played it with a high stick. From the NHL:

After initially signaling a goal, the on-ice officials huddled and changed their call to “no goal.” Video review supported the Referees’ call on the ice that Sam Reinhart’s stick was above the height of the crossbar when he directed the puck into the Capitals’ net. According to Rule 78.5 (vi) that states in part “Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee . . . When the puck has entered the net after making contact with an attacking player’s stick that is above the height of the crossbar. Where the puck makes contact with the stick is the determining factor.”

• So, in summary: a lot of action for Rule 78.5 (vi).
• Meanwhile, for Hershey, Hendrix Lapierre went HAM with his first professional hat trick.
• Nic Dowd got screwed on the Verhaege goal. The faceoff was scuffed, and then he got taken down. Nothing he could do.
• With Alex Ovechkin out due to injury, the power play was weird. John Carlson took the Ovi Spot, which yielded uneven results – zero shots on one session, five on another.
• In recovery from ACL surgery, Tom Wilson has had a rough year, but in this game he got his tenth goal of his short season, plus a brilliant assist on Strome’s goal, plus he flirted with a fight to complete a Gordie Howe hat trick.
• Tempers flared after Givani Smith threw a punch Wilson from the bench, which is definitely not allowed. Smith evaded official punishment, so Wilson enforced his own.
• Goalie Charlie Lindgren played for the first time since March 21. He was good until a clearing pass below his net found Matthew Tkachuk along the boards. Unlucky.

A springtime blue #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/lSfxYhYqvq

— good tweet pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) April 8, 2023

The Caps are not trying to lose, but they’re doing a spectacular job of it, improving their draft position with every game.

We’re almost done.

Headline photo: @PuckBuddys