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Live blog: Capitals finish back-to-back with tough test against Avalanche

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Spencer Carbery sounded alarm bells after the Capitals latest blowout loss on Tuesday – a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild that was never close.

“I genuinely believe in our leadership and they know we’re in playoff mode right now,” Carbery said. “(They know) this is our season, and how tight, and all that stuff. If we are being realistic about playing into April and May, this is going to be the chunk that decides our season.”

The Caps have the toughest remaining schedule of any NHL team, and tonight Washington, tired and ragged after last night’s game in Minnesota, will need to pull a rabbit out of the hat against a well-rested, superstar Colorado Avalanche team that sits second in the Central Division.

There will be a few lineup changes. The Capitals will get Ethan Bear back in the lineup while Trevor van Riemsdyk will sit. Charlie Lindgren will get the net again in an outing that befits the team’s full-time starter.

Tonight’s game is on Monumental Sports Network. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call. Puck drop is a little after 9:30 pm.

Capitals lines

Alex Alexeyev, Matthew Phillips, and Trevor van Riemsdyk are the scratches.

Avalanche lines

Congrats to Stromer!

1st Period

Charlie Lindgren will oppose Alexandar Georgiev in net. Mantha-Kuznetsov-Wilson and Sandin-Carlson get the start.

Kuznetsov with a beautiful backhand pass to Rasmus Sandin in the slot, but the defenseman’s shot gets deflected out of play.

Caps get the first power play after Miles Wood slashes John Carlson at 6:34.

The Caps have five of the first six shots on goal in the game nine minutes in.

Avs first line is pouring it on in their shift towards the end of the period.

Jonathan Drouin to the the box for high-sticking Nic Dowd at 18:09.

🚨 1-0 Avalanche. Highlight reel shorthanded goal by Cale Makar after Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin combine on a turnover during the power play. Makar, who is the best defenseman in the league, literally skated through the entire Capitals D and beat Lindgren easily. Makar’s 11th came at the 19:23 mark.

And with the goal, Makar captures the franchise record for tallies as a defenseman.

The Capitals with a surprisingly good period. They outshot the Avalanche 9 to 8 overall and out-attempted them at five-on-five, 20 to 18.

2nd Period

Puck is dropped.

Tom Wilson gets decked to the ice by Nathan MacKinnon after the Avs forward sends a one-timer toward Lindgren from the slot.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel to the box for holding Joel Kiviranta at 1:38.

🚨 2-0 Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon scores on a one-timer after a perfect cross-ice pass by Mikko Rantanen on the power play at 2:39. MacKinnon has now tallied a point in 24 straight home games, which is the longest in franchise history and the third longest in NHL history. MacKinnon also now has a 12-game point streak, the longest streak in the NHL currently.

🚨 3-0 Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon scores again on the power play from virtually the same spot. The superstar forward took a nice feed from Cale Makar and beat Lindgren again with a huge one-timer. Locker called it a “a dart.” MacKinnon’s 28th of the season comes at the 7:00 mark.

Artturi Lehkonen absolutely robbed by Lindgren wide open in front of the net.

🚨 4-0 Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon completes the natural hat trick after scoring on a two-on-one. The Caps basically frittered away a four-on-one of their own and the Avs quickly responded. MacKinnon’s hat trick goal, his 29th, came at the 9:16 mark.

Anthony Mantha takes a sauce pass from Connor McMichael, springing him on semi-breakaway, but he can’t score.

LINDGREN SKATES OUT TO THE BLUE LINE TO DENY A POTENTIAL AVS BREAKAWAY!!!! THE OUTLAW DOING OUTLAW THINGS.

Kurtis MacDermid to the box for tripping Tom Wilson at 15:58.

A Joel Edmundson bomb hits off the crossbar. Dude has developed a huge shot from the point.

The Avalanche are outshooting the Capitals 21 to 19 overall, but Washington is out-attempting them at five-on-five, 43 to 36.

3rd Period

Puck is dropped.

Ross Colton to the box at 2:55 for high-sticking Rasmus Sandin.

At five-on-five, Joel Edmundson hits the crossbar again.

🚨 4-1 Avalanche. Dylan Strome scores and ends Georgiev’s shutout bid after the Avs get careless with the puck. Ovechkin finds Pacioretty in the slot, who finds Strome wide open. Strome’s 17th of the season comes at 7:26 of the period.

Lindgren makes an insane split save on Cogliano who was wide open down the center lane on a three-on-one break.

🚨 5-1 Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen gets on the board at 10:20 after chipping a puck out of mid-air past Lindgren from just outside the crease. Rantanen now has a four-point night. That was his 27th goal of the season.

TJ Oshie to the box at 14:08 for high-sticking Sam Malinski.

🚨 6-1 Avalanche. Nate MacKinnon scores his fourth goal of the game beating Lindgren blocker side. Goodness. That’s MacKinnon’s 30th of the season. It came at the 16:14 mark of the period.

This guy is good.

🚨 6-2 Avalanche. Dylan Strome with his second of the night — a garbage goal. Tom Wilson gets the primary assist, his third point in the last 17 games. Strome’s 18th of the season comes at 17:37 of the period.

The positive thing is: this game is over. The Avs outshot the Caps 31 to 25 overall but Washington out-attempted them at five-on-five, 62 to 50. Alex Ovechkin did not have a shot on goal in the game.

Caps lose 6-2. Read the RMNB recap:

Nathan MacKinnon and friends make light work of tired Capitals: Avalanche beat Caps 6-2

Comment on the game below along with us! The comment section will close shortly after the game ends where we hope you’ll continue the conversation in RMNB’s recap.

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