Against an Avalanche team desperate for points to try and make the playoffs in the tightly-packed Western Conference race, the Caps came out flat Friday night, missing some good scoring chances and allowing Colorado to take the two points out of Washington for its third win in a row - and snapping the Caps' three-game streak in the process.
It was an effort that Caps coach Bruce Boudreau termed "horrible" - and it certainly was one of their worst efforts on home ice this season.
Ryan Smyth scored Colorado's first goal of the game and assisted on a pair of goals - including Adam Foote's first goal in over 17 months - as the Avalanche took a 4-1 win over the Caps in front of the Caps' eighth-straight sellout crowd at Verizon Center.
Newly-acquired Steffan Kronwall had an auspicious first home game as a Capital, missing a wide open net halfway through the first period, then later in the shift leaving Smyth all alone at the side of the Washington net and allowing him to take four whacks at a puck lodged between the and Theodore's skate and the post before Smyth knocked it into the net for a 1-0 Colorado lead with 9:33 left in the first.
Washington would even the score just before the first intermission, as Nicklas Backstrom took a Thomas Fleischmann feed and one-timed it past Andrew Raycroft to even the game. The goal was Backstrom's 15th of the season, surpassing last year's total.
But the Avs got a goal from an unlikely source 7:46 into the second period when Adam Foote skated in untouched and beat Theodore with a shot from a Milan Hedjuk pass for his first goal since October 6, 2007 - when he was a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game at Minnesota - a streak of 105 games without a goal spanning two teams.
Washington had some prime chances to pull even, as Sergei Fedorov was stuffed by Raycroft less than three minutes after Foote's goal, and then Alexander Semin missed the net when he broke in alone on Raycroft a couple of minutes later.
Washington only put 16 shots on net through 40 minutes of play, letting Colorado dictate the slow pace and stifling the Caps' offense. They had trouble bringing the puck up the ice, and didn't get into a rhythm all night against the Avs, as even another third-period burst of energy couldn't save the Caps, who moved to a perfect 18-0-0 this season when leading after two periods.
The Avs improved their chances when they took a two-goal edge when Tyler Arnason roofed a shot past Theodore, giving them some insurance with 3:33 gone in the third.
Washington had a golden chance to draw back to within one with a power play halfway through the period but couldn't convert, and then Tomas Fleischmann missed an open net shortly after the penalty expired.
Wojtek Wolski then sealed the game away with 7:24 left in the game with a soft shot that went under Theodore's pads, giving the Avs a 4-1 lead and quelling the Caps' brief momentum.
Alex Ovechkin, who had a 10-game point-scoring streak heading into the contest and five goals in his last three games, was held off the scoresheet with a quiet night for the star.
Theodore, who made some rather inflammatory comments heading into the contest, wasn't very strong in net for Washington, not quite at the top of his game against the team that he left via free agency last summer. He allowed four goals on 25 shots, and the Avs' two third-period goals were of the soft variety.
The Caps have had their trouble this season when the West pays a visit to Verizon Center, going just 5-4-0 - as compared to an 18-1-1 home mark so far against the East. Fortunately for Washington, Colorado is the last Western team to pay D.C. a visit this season - barring a Stanley Cup Finals berth - and the Caps only play one more game against an out-of-conference foe coming March 10th at Nashville.
Colorado also earned its first-ever regulation win at Verizon Center, with the Avs' last victory in D.C. coming when Patrick Roy broke the all-time wins mark for a goaltender in October of 2000 in a 4-3 overtime decision. The Avalanche's last regulation win came in the Capitals' final few months at US Air Arena, back in October of 2007 before the team moved to Chinatown two months later.
Next up for Washington is a nationally-televised date with the Penguins, who make their first of two visits to Verizon Center in a 12:30ET start Sunday to continue the five-game homestand, in which the Caps are 1-1-0 so far.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment