Washington Capitals: Top 3 Duds Against the Golden Knights

The Washington Capitals fell to the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night, courtesy of a shutout performance by Robin Lehner. Michael Amadio was the lone goalscorer in a lackluster 1-0 hockey game, beating Vitek Vanecek at the 5:29 mark of the second period.

The Capitals were shutout for the first time this season, and have now lost seven of ten games in the New Year, including only one regulation win in that span. Alex Ovechkin and company will try to bounce back Wednesday night against the Sharks, but for now, here are the top 3 duds from Monday nights game.

#3. Lack of Scoring AKA Robin Lehner

The 3 spot is pretty self-explanatory; the Washington Capitals could just simply not score. This is not a recurring problem for the Capitals luckily as they have now only been shutout three times in the past two seasons. The Capitals had their chances and did not get completely out played, but Robin Lehner played exceptional, and deserves all the credit given in his 34 save performance Monday night. He even took an Ovechkin slapshot to the dome and had to change masks after his cage was bent.

#2. Connor McMichael’s Ice Time

Understandably it was a tight game, and the coaching staff is going to give the top guys more minutes, but 6 minutes and 55 seconds for the teams top prospect is a little concerning.  Connor McMichael looked great in the limited minutes he played in, and was worthy of more ice time. He is known for his offensive presence, although he has not been given a whole lot of opportunity to showcase his talents this season. In a regular season game where the team is struggling to score, rotating a highly skilled top prospect in the top six may not be such a bad idea.

#1. The Power Play

This should come to no surprise at the top spot considering how poor the Capitals power play has been all season. The Capitals went an abysmal 0-5 with the extra man and now have the 30th ranked power play in the league at 14.17%.

Around six minutes into the second period, Vegas took back to back penalties for a near two minute 5 on 3 power play where the Capitals failed to convert. There power play is too predictable, and with Ovechkin not generating as much on the man advantage this year, they need to be creative and find new ways to succeed. This problem needs to be taken care of ASAP if the Capitals want to be contenders this year.