Coming up short in four consecutive games has put the Washington Capitals on the outside of a playoff position.
The Capitals have an opportunity to improve their standing when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Following a 4-1 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, the Capitals are in a 0-3-1 swoon that has them one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and one point back of the New York Islanders, who hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
The Capitals (36-29-10, 82 points) have one game in hand on both the Flyers and Islanders.
The Red Wings also have 82 points, but Washington holds the tiebreaker against Detroit (regulation wins). The Penguins sit one point behind Washington and Detroit in a stunningly tight race.
The Capitals did themselves no favors against Pittsburgh, falling behind 2-0 in the first period and staring at a three-goal deficit before attempting a too-little-too-late rally.
“We have enough veterans in here where we know we can’t dwell on tonight,” Washington forward Max Pacioretty said postgame. “If you let two points slip (Friday) because of your frustration with tonight, then that’s a rookie mindset.”
Alex Ovechkin scored Washington’s lone goal, his 27th of the season and the 849th of his career. He is 45 goals behind Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time record.
The lone goal was typical for a Capitals squad that has netted only six goals during the four-game skid.
“We’re holding the puck a little bit longer, trying to find the pretty play,” Ovechkin said. “It’s not going to work, especially at a moment in the season when everybody is concentrating on a win, everybody is playing a little faster.”
The Hurricanes (47-22-7, 101 points) are also looking to rebound from a 4-1 home loss on Thursday. They fell to the Boston Bruins to open a three-game homestand, with the result snapping a two-game winning streak.
Boston scored three goals in the first period and cruised to victory against a Carolina team that last played on Saturday.
“That’s not an excuse,” Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast said when the lengthy time between games was mentioned. “The first period was unacceptable, the way we played. … We weren’t ready.”
The Hurricanes remain second in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the league-leading New York Rangers and 18 up on the Flyers. Both Carolina and the Rangers have six games remaining in the regular season.
Carolina, which has already punched a ticket for the playoffs, owns an 8-2-1 record over the past 11 outings. Newcomer Jake Guentzel, acquired from the Penguins at the trade deadline, is settling in nicely, having collected one goal and five points in the past three games.
However, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was not about to let his charges put their game into cruise control with the playoffs to begin in two weeks.
“We were sluggish to start,” he said. “We weren’t ready for that pace. That’s on me, knowing the way we took these last four days. It was more of mentally getting away and we weren’t ready to get to it. After the first (period), it was a fairly even game, but the game was pretty much over.”
