The Washington Capitals are in big trouble. They lost a game they really could not afford to lose given other results from around the league and it could cost them the playoffs.
The Caps have been full of comebacks this season but it feels like the time has run out for another one.
- Perhaps the worst part about this loss is that the Capitals really, really played well in it. They limited Buffalo to just four total high-danger chances in the game and created 12 of their own. They also ended the night +14 in scoring chance differential and even won 70 percent of the faceoffs. What a total bummer.
- Charlie Lindgren, who has been the team’s hero in net for almost the entire season, just didn’t have his best stuff in Buffalo. Lindgren gave up 1.85 more goals than expected which was the difference in the game if you subtract the empty netter. The Sabres had Chuckie’s number this season, putting nine total goals past him in his two starts against them.
- The Capitals got a super strong effort from Alex Alexeyev who is playing a much larger role with Rasmus Sandin out of the lineup. The 24-year-old Russian played a season-high 21:21 of ice time in the loss and the team was absolutely dominant with him over the boards at five-on-five. During those minutes, the Capitals held positive differentials in shot attempts (+8), scoring chances (+9), and high-danger chances (+3). They didn’t give up a high-danger chance with Alexeyev on the ice.
- Connor McMichael is two goals away from recording his first 20-goal season in the NHL after scoring on Thursday night. Really great “next-step year” from McMichael this season. Let’s hope it’s just the beginning and there’s even another level to his game.
- The Capitals will be paying close attention to their top prospect, Ryan Leonard, on Saturday night as he and the rest of the Boston College Eagles will be playing for the 2024 NCAA National Championship. Leonard recorded an assist in BC’s 4-0 Frozen Four victory over Michigan on Thursday. He has six total points (4g, 2a) in three tournament games.
- Instead of just copying and pasting from Ian’s article about how the worst-case scenario for the Capitals occurred in the East standings last night, I’ll just direct you to his post. The Capitals are no longer in the second wild card spot because of how it all went down.
