The Washington Capitals failed to reverse their fortunes against the Florida Panthers Thursday night, falling 4-2 on the first game of the annual Mentor’s Trip. The team has gone six-straight games without a win: a dubious milestone they have reached only a handful of times in recent memory.
Thursday’s loss felt all-too familiar for a squad that has seen their season take a turn in recent weeks. As the trade deadline grows ever-closer, the Caps have fallen further and further in the standings as they attempt to regain a playoff spot.
Per Stathead Hockey, the Capitals have recorded six or more losses in a row just 11 times since Alex Ovechkin joined the team in 2005.
| First Game | Last Game | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1/20/24 | 2/8/24* | 6 |
| 3/25/23 | 4/8/23 | 6 |
| 2/12/23 | 2/23/23 | 6 |
| 1/12/19 | 1/23/19 | 7 |
| 1/12/14 | 1/24/14 | 7 |
| 12/2/10 | 12/18/10 | 8 |
| 3/21/07 | 3/31/07 | 6 |
| 2/25/07 | 3/15/07 | 9 |
| 11/15/06 | 11/25/06 | 6 |
| 3/10/06 | 3/23/06 | 8 |
| 1/1/06 | 1/12/06 | 6 |
*active
Two of those streaks came last season, when Washington recorded a pair of six-game losing skids on the way to their worst season in 16 years. At this point in the campaign, the 2022-23 Caps had 56 points in the standings. This year’s team currently has 51.
After leaving for the holiday break in a playoff spot, the Capitals have started the new year on the wrong foot. Since returning from that break, the team has a record of 5-11-2 and have allowed an un-nice 69 goals in 19 games.
“Everything’s difficult,” John Carlson said Thursday night. “I mean, it’s been a difficult stretch. We’ve got no margin for error and that’s just the games that we play right now.”
Though they ended the first period with a 1-0 lead, the Capitals failed to hold onto that momentum as the night wore on. Head coach Spencer Carbery highlighted the team’s struggles in keeping up with a skilled Panthers roster.
“It’s difficult for us to maintain that pace and be able to play at that level and at that speed for 60 minutes,” he said. “It catches up with us at certain points, and you saw it in the second period and then certainly in the third period for stretches where we just, we struggle to stay at that pace.”
Washington has not lost seven games in a row in more than half a decade, last doing so in 2019. The Caps will try to avoid that fate on Saturday when they face the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. Though it would require a full team effort, Anthony Mantha believes they can cut the streak short.
“We need to come together. Obviously,” he said. “That’s the only way we’re going to get out of it. There’s enough talent in here and attitude and compete level in this room to step back and we know what’s ahead and we can do it.”
