The Washington Capitals were seemingly on the verge of another successful comeback in back-to-back days against the New York Rangers when their momentum was halted by consecutive questionable calls by on-ice officials. After TJ Oshie scored the team’s first goal in Sunday’s matchup, the refs sent the Capitals on a march to the penalty box.
Four straight minor penalties went against Washington, each one more perplexing to both players and coaches. At one point in the game, head coach Spencer Carbery could even be seen blatantly gesturing that Rangers defenseman Adam Fox had dove to send Nic Dowd to the box for roughing.
#ALLCAPS DIVE! pic.twitter.com/AQkTK1NM3l
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 14, 2024
While he did not chastise the officiating in his postgame media availability, Carbery lamented the fact that the Capitals’ did not receive more power play opportunities despite their good play in the back half of the contest.
“I liked our game tonight,” Carbery said. “I thought we carried most of the play from the second half of that game or two thirds of that game. Penalty kill was great, you just would have liked to have found a way to get that second
The first call that drew the ire of Carbery was Dowd’s roughing minor on Fox. The play in question happened with the Capitals already killing off a Martin Fehervary interference penalty. The additional minor gave New York an extended five-on-three.
Some dramatics at MSG.
Spencer Carbery saying that Adam Fox dove after being caught up high by Nick Dowd.
Fox is fired up. pic.twitter.com/fRf2f6GAOd
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) January 14, 2024
Next up, Joel Edmundson was sent to the box for a rather innocuous play behind the net. After tying up Alexis Lafreniere, who drew four penalties in the game, Edmundson was whistled for a high-sticking minor. Frustrated by what he believed was Lafreniere selling the call, Edmundson tried to goad the former number one overall draft pick into a retaliation penalty by getting into a shoving match with him. He was not successful and Carbery was left absolutely gobsmacked by the in-arena replays.
#ALLCAPS My thoughts exactly pic.twitter.com/OgcEccMkIG
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 14, 2024
Perhaps the pièce de résistance from Sunday’s officiating crew was the final call against the Capitals. With less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation, John Carlson was back on defense as Lafreniere and the Rangers began a rush up the ice.
As the play progressed, a broken or unattended stick from earlier in the game drifted into Carlson’s path and tripped him up. Carlson’s spill sent the stick flying into Lafreniere’s path and it also tripped him. The refs deemed that worthy of sending Carlson to the box for tripping.
#ALLCAPS Do these refs have a bet on the rangers or something? pic.twitter.com/hNidFEWOXA
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 14, 2024
While he showed his displeasure with the officiating multiple times during the game, Carbery spent most of his time postgame with reporters lauding his team’s efforts despite the defeat.
“We knew what we were up against and I thought we handled it superbly,” Carbery said. “You just wish our guys would have been rewarded for the effort today and the commitment because it’s not an easy situation. We’ll walk away and look at the process things that we did and try to replicate that against Anaheim.”
Capitals forward Dylan Strome was a little less diplomatic than his bench boss when describing the battle on two fronts that the Capitals were handed on Sunday.
“The calls against us were just – yeah – some tough calls to see. What was it, four in a row in the third? There you go. That explains it. When we have the momentum and we can’t get power plays it’s obviously frustrating. Couple missed calls for sure.”
The Capitals ended up with the 2-1 loss to the Rangers, wrapping up the season series between the two sides. Both teams won each of their two games on home ice.
Screenshot: @Capitals/X
