Capitals drop six in a row as offensive issues continue

It's not Alex Ovechkin. It's not Darcy Kuemper. If you think it's Anthony Mantha's fault, you're living in the past and we all feel sorry for you over here. It's a TEAM effort and the reality is the Washington Capitals have dropped six in a row. But it didn't start out that way.

Ovechkin struck on the power play. That's a rarity but it's still his 11th goal of the season. Rasmus Sandin who skated in his 200th career game set up the captain. Connor McMichael had the secondary and it put the Great Eight 61 away from tying Wayne Gretzky.

The Panthers have playoff aspirations and have more talent on paper. Matthew Tkachuk tied it but Mantha put them back in front. I said before the season to chill out when it came to Mantha.

That last matchup against the Panthers was unfortunate for him. He had two goals and entered the third period with a hat trick. He instead got hit by a puck and had to leave the game. Minor setback that set up for a major comeback as that was his 16th goal of the season.

Mike Sgarbossa, the fill in for Evgeny Kuznetsov as he's in the player assistance program, and Aliaksei Protas, who was just re-upped, had the assists. But then it was a Panther takeover in the jungles of Sunrise, Florida.

Sam Reinhart tied it in the third. Ryan Lomberg put them in front. Eetu Luostarinen sealed it with the empty netter. 4-2 final score.

"But the Caps didn't shoot the puck enough?"

Well you're right on that regard. The first period both teams went toe to toe with 13 shots apiece. You knew the Panthers were going to take over and rattle Kuemper by ousthooting the Cpas 12-4 in the second and 16-6 in the third. 41-23 overall was the shot count. Even the best goalies can't stop all 41 shots sometimes.

But it's time to move on and the Caps get a back to back this weekend with the Bruins on the road and the Canucks at home. Arguably two of the best teams in the league at this moment in time.