Capitals can’t build off win and instead go in the complete opposite direction: numbers for the morning after

The Washington Capitals did not follow up their great win over the Toronto Maple Leafs with anything good against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. The Caps went down 4-0 halfway through the game and finished 5-2 losers.

Just a horrid start. Horrible.

• The Capitals were just completely outclassed five-on-five. Not even close. Beatdown. At the end of regulation, the five-on-five expected goals were 3.89 to 1.82 in favor of the Red Wings, and I’m pretty sure which periods you can guess a lot of Detroit’s best work came in. In the first alone, they created 1.8 five-on-five expected goals. Did I mention the horrible start? Horrible start.
• Dylan Strome hasn’t been good for several weeks now. He picked up an assist in this game, which was his first point after a five-game drought. Alex Ovechkin doesn’t have a goal in seven games. Anthony Beauvillier has two points in December. I think you can catch my drift here.
• Jakob Chychrun has been fantastic offensively of late, but the Capitals got pulverized defensively with him on the ice in this loss. At five-on-five, the Red Wings created 15 of their 32 scoring chances, 9 of their 15 high-danger chances, and 2.16 of their 3.89 expected goals with Chychrun on the ice.

• The disallowed goal is definitely a story because I think that call was awful. Not only does Ben Chiarot push Aliaksei Protas into John Gibson, but the latter then loses his mind and jumps out of position to shove Protas instead of trying to get back into his crease. I think Francis Charron’s ego was at play in the decision not to overturn the call. He was immediately adamant about his decision on the ice to the players and Spencer Carbery. The replay could have shown Chiarot table-topping Protas into Gibson, and he would have found a way to keep that goal off the board. The Capitals are now 0-for-6 on challenges this year.
• Aliaksei Protas has goals in two straight games, giving him 12 on the season. He’s on pace for 28 goals this season after scoring 30 last year.
• Poor Logan Thompson did his best in net for the Capitals, making 36 stops on 40 shots faced. According to MoneyPuck, he still finished positive in goals saved above expected with 0.06.