The Washington Capitals made the quick trip north to take on the New York Rangers in the season-series finale between the two clubs. The Caps desperately needed another win to keep pace with the rest of the Eastern Conference teams battling for playoff spots.
Conor Sheary put the Rangers up one just 23 seconds into the first period. Connor McMichael responded with a breakaway tally to tie the game. The Rangers then opened up the beatdown from there, getting goals from JT Miller, Will Cuylle (2), Adam Sykora, and Adam Fox, all in the second period. Vincent Trocheck added another to start the third. Cuylle finished off his hat trick.
Rangers beat Capitals 8-1.
- Obviously, didn’t love the start from the Capitals, but they settled into the first period and were probably the better team overall. Of course, the Rangers decided to start Jonathan Quick on Saturday, leaving the Capitals with Igor Shesterkin. Really nice of them. Sike, you suck.
- Cole Hutson almost put Gabe Perreault on a forever highlight reel with a move that would have fit on any AND1 Mixtape Tour. Imagine if he had finished that play? I still think he needs to use his shot more, especially in situations like that.
- Stay hot, Connor McMichael. He found the back of the net on a breakaway to give him nine points (2g, 7a) in his last nine games. McJesus has risen?
- The second period may legitimately be one of the worst periods I have ever seen a Capitals team play. No, this team doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs after what we were forced to watch unfold there. Just utterly horrendous, systematically poor defense. The Sabres win was a mirage, folks.
- Not helping matters was that Charlie Lindgren was a complete sieve. The worst of the worst was Adam Fox‘s power-play goal from the point, where he flailed around pointlessly and probably would have stopped the shot if he had just stood still. Lindgren is a $3 million backup who clearly needs regular playing time to get into a groove, and he’s not going to get it with the Capitals anymore. The writing should be on the wall there.
- Jakob Chychrun and Brandon Duhaime both got into fights after the Capitals were already getting absolutely pummeled. Chychrun at least had a reason for his as he was sticking up for Ryan Leonard, but Duhaime took an extra minor penalty to get into his bout, and the Rangers immediately scored on the ensuing power play. He should be in the press box on Wednesday.
- To make matters worse, we had to sit through the highlights four times because ESPN also needed to show the Inside Out cartoon characters scoring the goals. Literal hell.
- The Capitals were also god-awful in the third, but that hardly mattered. I don’t know, chat. Tough to see how they come back from this one.
- Hendrix Lapierre got into his first career NHL fight. I’m not sure he ever got into a fight in the QMJHL, so that might be the first fight of his entire life.
- Just a reminder: the Rangers are the worst team in the Eastern Conference and have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
- To make matters worse, the Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators both won their games. They are each now three points ahead of the Capitals with a game in hand.
The Capitals will be back in action on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who knows which Capitals team will show up.
