The road trip from hell. The Capitals were looking to grab 3 of 4 of this road trip to stay afloat in the standings and maybe even grab hold of the lead in the Southeast Division. But after a spectacular win against the Panthers, things went downhill fast for the once mighty Capitals. To cap off the fourth game of the four game road swing, it seemed that Disney On Ice that occupied Verizon Center saw more favorable action than the Caps on the road. It seemed only fitting that a team the Caps could mathematically catch in the standings were the Ottawa Senators would steam roll them 5-2.
Okay, so Matty Perreault takes a puck off his face and scores, and John Carlson maybe added a glimmer of hope with his power play tally after a pretty Alex Semin pass (a scene we have seen too little of this season). But besides the fact they didn't get shut out, there were not a lot of positives to take from the game.
Alex Ovechkin looked uncomfortable in morning skate and ended up leaving early from practice was a bad omen to the already reeling Capitals. He would not strap them on for tonight's tilt, forcing the Caps to recall Keith Acoin to fill out the roster. Listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury, the Capitals would lose an offensive weapon (if you can call it that this season).
This doesn't seem to be a coaching problem. Even with a new system in place, the Capitals scoring has not improved. It seems to be a player problem, which could be corrected with some names being moved at the trade deadline.
The door in the Southeast has been open for some time, but it seems no one wants it. Florida seems to bump into it more times than not and the Capitals road effort couldn't beat most college teams at this point.
One thing is for sure, serious changes have to be on the horizon.
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