The Washington Capitals did not have their best against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night. After coming out flat for most of the first two periods, the Capitals tried to put on a late push but failed to turn around the scoreboard, losing 3-2 in regulation.
Not exactly a gesture of confidence toward the front office ahead of the trade deadline. Yikes.
- The Capitals got run ragged by the Mammoth at five-on-five, out-attempted 70-43, and underwater in scoring chances (-15), high-danger chances (-5), and expected goals (-0.9). This Utah team is built exactly like the type of team that the Caps have had a ton of trouble with, really, since they won the Stanley Cup in 2018. The Mammoth are fast on every line, and they use that pace on both sides of the puck. They seemingly have five quick guys to every one on the Capitals. It’s a problem.
- The power play finally decided to wake up, going 2-for-2 in the loss. However, the other side of special teams completely nullified that work, as the penalty kill allowed the Mammoth to score on both of their respective power-play tries. I don’t have a real takeaway from either result. I thought the power play looked better, but it’s still the same group doing the same things. I haven’t loved the penalty kill scheme all season either.
- Ryan Leonard scored one of the two goals, which was really great to see. The rookie winger had been slumping big time, not putting a puck in the net for 14 straight games before Tuesday night’s contest. Let’s hope he gets on a hot streak now, perhaps even fueled partially by soon getting more young blood in the locker room this month: Hutson, Cole.
- Dylan McIlrath dressed for this game for some reason and played on his off-hand side – the latter somehow more confusing than the former. He received just 6:55 of ice time. Chat, what are they doing here, chat? Can anyone provide a logical explanation for this? Did Declan Chisholm vanish? I just don’t understand what went on here. If the coaching staff doesn’t like their options, the front office needs to give them other options. It feels like the entire roster has been stuck in a bizarre holding pattern all season. I don’t want to go full doomer, but this year is starting to feel like a bit of a waste.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois still looks great, but unfortunately, he’s like one of four guys on the whole team who do at the moment. He scored again to give himself six points (4g, 2a) in his last five games.
- Folks, this was the final game for the Capitals before the trade deadline. I feel like we can be almost 100 percent certain that the team will have no interest in buying rental players in the next few days, but will they, just in general, even complete a deal? I’m not sure they will. The market for the types of forwards they seem to want, top-six guys under guaranteed team control for the future, is not plentiful and appears to be incredibly expensive. Could they then turn into somewhat of a seller to profit off of that? I think that’d be advisable, but I don’t think the club wants to send that sort of message to their players either, especially given this could be Alex Ovechkin’s final year. That’s why I think they probably stand pat and maybe we get some cool NHL debuts from prospects down the stretch instead.
This story would not be possible without
Please consider joining us in supporting them.
