This entry was written by DCist contributor Jesse Rounds.
Last Friday the Capitals had a chance to win their “playoff” series with the Carolina Hurricanes. Once again their offense proved up to the task with three goals. However, they let the Hurricanes score three short-handed goals on their own powerplay opportunities to tie the game. That would be the story of the game for the Hurricanes. As Coach Glen Hanlon noted “We’ve said all along that five-on-five we can compete with most teams.” Washington did create a little suspense in the third period, but it was not to be and the game ended 4-3 in favor of Carolina.
On Saturday night the team traveled to Long Island to play the New York Islanders. Throughout their history these two teams have played well against each other creating exciting games. Prior to this season the Caps even had the upper hand in the series winning most of the games both at home and on Long Island. However, this game was a blow out, the Islanders took advantage of home ice and skated away with a 5-0 win. Washington failed to put in any real effort and let Brent Johnson down again, providing him little cover or support. Alexander Ovechkin’s quest for 50 goals and 100 points was stymied yet again as he was shut out of the scoring for the 6th game in a row.
