The Washington Capitals were without Alex Ovechkin for a week due to the death of his father Mikhail. They had five games and they failed to win a single one. Their latest setback was a 3-1 loss on home ice to the Detroit Red Wings probably retiring the Weagle jersey winless after falling on the national stage on Saturday.
Robert Hagg struck first at 10:16 while Plus Suter scored shorthanded at 14:22. The Caps got one back with Tom Wilson’s fourth goal of the season and goal in second straight game on the power play. That came at 15:57 on assists from Erik Gustafsson and Nicklas Backstrom.
2-1 was the score after one with the Red Wings leading in shots 8-6. In the second neither team scored as the Red Wings led in shots 13-6. The Caps outshot the Red Wings 15-4 in the third and 27-25 overall but failed to get the equalizer. Suter added his second goal fo the game at 6:24 to seal the win for Detroit.
The Caps lost Anthony Mantha with an upper body injury. Jakub Vrana suited up for the Red Wings and got a tribute video:
"“They did a really good job. That was really nice of them. I had a lot of flashbacks in the arena, of course, but once the puck dropped it was all business. I’m happy that we got the win.”"
Not only have the Caps struggled to get wins but a handful of players are in slumps. Lars Eller has zero goals in 21 games. Conor Sheary has one goal in 22 games. Mantha has zero goals in 15 games. Sonny Milano has one goal in 17 games. Dylan Strome has one goal in 11 games.
Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette told the media:
"“There’s no question that there’s a couple guys, you can see them when they come back to the bench, they take their shot or they make their play and it doesn’t happen and you can see their frustration. We just got to continue to push. Guys have proven they can score goals. Our team has proven we can score goals and right now we’re in a bit of a funk with regard to that.”"
The Capitals practice at noon today at MedStar before hosting the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night with a lineup that could look different. Or maybe not.