Photo: X/@Capitals
The Washington Capitals fell to the Detroit Red Wings, 8-3 Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The loss drops Washington’s record to 27-22-9 (63 points) on the season.
The Red Wings jumped out to an early lead and tacked on an additional tally near the end of the opening period for a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
The Capitals got on the board early in the middle frame on Hendrix Lapierre’s third goal in the previous five periods of play, making it 2-1, but the Red Wings quickly answered to restore the two-goal margin. The Red Wings added another tally to make it 4-1 before Mike Sgarbossa scored his second goal of the season to make it 4-2 near the end of the middle frame. Unfortunately the Red Wings would add a short-handed tally in the waning seconds of the period to make it 5-2 at the second intermission.
The Red Wings extended their lead to 6-2 on Robby Fabbri’s 15th goal of the season on a power play early in the final frame. Max Pacioretty made it 6-3 with his third goal of the season midway through the final frame. Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin added late tallies to make it 8-3.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren (12-8-5, 2.64 GAA, .914 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Capitals. Alex Lyon (17-8-2, 2.68 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Red Wings. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Max Pacioretty – Mike Sgarbossa – Pierrick Dube
Beck Malenstyn – Hendrix Lapierre – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Rasmus Sandin – John Carlson
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson – Ethan Bear
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: T.J. Oshie (upper body jury, week-to-week), Sonny Milano (illness), Nic Dowd (upper body injury, day-to-day), Martin Fehervary (injury), Nick Jensen (injury), Evgeny Kuznetsov (Player Assistance Program), Nicklas Backstrom (hip).
1ST PERIOD
The Red Wings opened the scoring early in the first stanza on a blast by Shane Gostisbehere at 5:45 of the first period.
GHOSTY BLAST! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/sDYQPRFb15
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 28, 2024
The Red Wings made it 2-0 late in the period on a close-range shot from the slot by Lucas Raymond at 16:18.
RAYMUNDO pic.twitter.com/wUpyudb8Qn
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 28, 2024
The Red Wings held the 2-o lead into the first intermission. Detroit dominated five-on-five shot attempts 26-12.
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals got on the board early in the middle frame on Hendrix Lapierre’s (5) third goal in the previous five periods of play. Alex Ovechkin (27) and Anthony Mantha (14) had the helpers.
Hendrix Lapierre tracks Ovechkin’s feed and tallies, cutting the Washington deficit to 1!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/3vJ5dj9cZW
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 28, 2024
But the Red Wings quickly restored their two-goal lead on Joe Veleno’s 11th goal of the season at 4:44.
Must See JV. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ol4dkqwHEN
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 28, 2024
Shane Gostisbehere extended the Red Wings lead to 4-1 with his second goal of the game at 9:01.
🪒 → 👻 pic.twitter.com/jaKreoyt2f
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 28, 2024
The Capitals climbed back into it with a goal from Mike Sgarbossa (2) at 16:38 of the middle frame. John Carlson (30) had the line assist.
Sgarbs spinnin’ and scorin’ pic.twitter.com/e3SJaGNQWW
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 28, 2024
But the Red Wings answered back with a short-handed goal to make it 5-2 at the second intermission.
3RD PERIOD
The Red Wings extended their lead to 6-2 on Robby Fabbri’s 15th goal of the season on the power play.
It’s a beautiful thing. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/3HOpxtjTvF
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 28, 2024
Max Pacioretty made it 6-3 with his third goal of the season midway through the period. Alex Ovechkin (30) and Alex Alexeyev (1) had the assists.
Make that a goal in two straight games for Patches pic.twitter.com/oWg5a8BFXr
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 28, 2024
The Red Wings answered with a goal from Alex Debrincat at 11:49 to make it 7-3 and added another tally from Dylan Larkin to make it 8-3, the final.
SHAVINGS (Via Capitals PR)
- Alex Ovechkin recorded the primary assist on Lapierre’s goal, his 27th assist of the season. Ovechkin, who has recorded 23 points (10g, 13a) in his last 22 games, is now 10 assists shy of 700 career assists.
- John Carlson recorded his team-leading 30th assist of the season on Sgarbossa’s goal. With the assist, Carlson becomes the fourth player in franchise history to record nine-plus 30-assist seasons (Nicklas Backstrom: 14; Alex Ovechkin: 11; Mike Gartner: 9).
- Max Pacioretty scored his second power-play goal in his last two games to cut the deficit to 6-3. It marks Pacioretty’s 329th career goal, tying Kevin Stevens for the 20th most goals among American-born players in NHL history.
By Jon Sorensen
This game was an unmitigated disaster. If the team loses to Philly, I would recommend being a seller.
Right now Philly is beating up on Tampa 4-1 outshooting them 25-19 and really dominating the game. Philly playing more physically as well.
With Philly winning, now I can amend my statement to say that the entire day has been an unmitigated disaster for the Caps.
disagree…this is awesome…maybe now, they’ll not be idiots and mortgage our future for a quick fix trip to the playoffs and be 1 and done. this “team” is a hodgepodge at best and i can only hope they lose a lot and 8 scores a lot the rest of the way
Yeah – let the play-off silliness cease. We are not play-off caliber and that’s OKAY. Get on with the rebuild!
and the Caps typically can’t handle aggressive physicality
so can we finally be sellers now?
Yes. The answer is yes.
Tough duty on 2nd game of b2b
Don’t let the assists fool you. Ovechkin looked awful out there for 90% of the game. There were a ton of missed passes to him. One was offsides so not his fault but a couple he was too slow to get to. Was too slow to defend the short hander. Tom Wilson had 2 prime scoring opportunities and just looked completely indecisive. NAK gets the steal just to give it right back. Strome was a ghost out there. Defense, especially up the middle was nonexistent. This team really misses Fehervary, Dowd, and even Jensen. Big guys who can defend up the middle and clear the puck. Chuck was hung out to dry, but he has not been playing the same since the beginning of the year. Wings skated circles around us, what else is new. At the end of the day, the Wings are a white hot team and completely dismantled us. Everything went right for them. Above all, we didn’t capitalize on our chances. They did.
On a few positives, Lapierre has earned an extended stay. I still think next season is his year, but he’s looking better and better. Sgarbossa has a very sound game. He’s not very flashy, but a good skater and fundamentally sound. His game has translated well from the AHL. His goal scoring has looked better than expected. He’s on the wrong side of 30 though, and I’m sure the organization is better served having him lead the Bears when the time comes. It’s been a mixed bag with Alexeyev, but while his game isn’t always pretty, it’s always gritty. He has shown some good things, but also things to work on. Warrants more minutes. Pacioretty has scored in back to back games, so he’s helping his trade value right before the deadline. It’s gonna be a sad day if Mantha gets traded. Can’t believe I’m saying that but it’s true. I honestly wouldn’t be opposed to extending him, but he is the big fish for the deadline.
Excellent analysis. Lap looks like he will make the team in September. Sgar can stay for the rest of this season if Dowd is traded. AA just needs playing time and I think he gets it after this sell off in a few days. Agree on Mantha too. He has really found his groove and if they could keep him on a one or two year deal, I would not hate it provided he is consistent like he’s been this year. If Bmac gets a good return though, I would not begrudge him.
Well turns out Sgarbossa is no longer waiver exempt, and there’s no way he’d make it past waivers, so I’d say he is gonna remain on the roster for the rest of the year. Another thing, I see a lot of people wanting Carlson gone, and off the power play with how basic his passing at the point is and is lack of speed now, but we really don’t have anyone who can replace him at this juncture. Not even Sandin is fully on his level. Assuming we’re just getting picks and prospects and not any real players at the deadline, I’d trade Pacioretty, Dowd, Edmundson, either one of the goaltenders, and either Jensen or TvR, but keep the other. Mantha I’m 50/50 on. He’s honestly been our best player for stretches including this one. Also wouldn’t be opposed to trading NAK if the return is decent. At that point you’ll have made room for guys like AA, LuJo Frank, Dube, and maybe Snively.
Oh and Kuznetsov too if at all possible
Again, you are right on. I wouldn’t mind Mantha at 1 or 2 years and 5 million but if he wants 6 or more, I say no. NAK I would hope we could keep too if no one wants to trade for him. Caps can keep going year to year with him. Kuzy I don’t see going with all that’s happened but I would not be shocked if McClellan buys him out in June and lets him go where ever he likes. As for the overall roster, after this trade deadline and summer, the team will be even younger and ever younger still at this time next year. People should not sweat the age thing as you must have veterans to win as you can see from some examples in the league like Buffalo and Ottowa.
Thanks for saying it
Hes been so bad the arena should be empty
Our gm keeps getting guys to fill holes and they don’t work,this team turns the puck over to easy it’s not lack of talent it’s just ignorant.
Milano? NAK? Pacioretty? All on the cheap.
So, turning the puck over easy is due to ignorance…
Got it. Keep posting, very insightful.
Is it because of lack of talent that’s sader
Barry trotz would put you out of the league very fast
Friday Night at home against the Flyers!
Doesn’t get more “Must Win” than that
Caps NEED Fehervary and Jensen back on the Blueline — “Adult supervision.” This spate of February injuries has forced many Baby Bears onto the Caps roster — mostly with good effect. But last light vs a loaded, healthy playoff team … we saw what happened! Caps inexperience on defense and forward-defending was exposed
POHO MacLellan is on the spot: What will he do with the Trading Deadline? I’ve always felt that “rental” players rarely help a good team get better, and the Caps are no exception
Hershey still has players who are ready, and good. One major disappointment: Mr. P. Dube scored two dozen goals with Hershey …. but looks lost as Bambi at Nighttime on the Caps Third Line. Time to send him back and retrieve Mr. Vecchione, who is bigger, meaner, can hit and check, and played well for one, count them, one game with the Caps. Poor fellow, he fell into Lake Laviolette!
Vecchione is on an AHL only contract.
Really disappointing performance. Are we going to see a stellar game by any of our D-men this year? Carlson was on ice for 5 goals against and out of position on most. I like the energy from the newbies, but we also need consistent results at some point. Right now, no one should be untouchable, as we come up to the trade deadline.
Please keep in mind our LTIR roster. No way a team is going any where in the playoffs when $30mill or so is in LTIR/IR…
True story.
ALLEZ L’INTREPIDE DE GATENEAU
Oui!
Any indication what those reasons may be?.. 😬
Nothing yet.