Hello All,

The Washington Capitals suffered a heartbreaking regulation defeat against the Florida Panthers. Prior to the third period, I was ready to write about everything and anything positive from a statement win against the Florida Panthers. Then the third period happened. Up 4-1 in the third, the Capitals somehow managed to lose in regulation and not even earn a point. Sad. Credit to the Panthers for battling back in this one. The third period was an absolute disaster for the Caps. This was a huge game for the Panthers who were in a little bit of a slump. Talk about a turnaround point early in the season for them.

Here Are the Stats From the Game:

Shots on Goal:
WSH – 27
FLA – 51

Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 23
FLA – 38

Third Period Shots on Goal:
WSH – 2
FLA - 26

Corsi For %:
WSH – 38.46%
FLA – 61.54%

Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 41.49%
FLA – 58.51%

Power Play:
WSH – 0/2
FLA – 2/4

Hits:
WSH – 35
FLA – 35

Blocks:
WSH – 7
FLA - 10

Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 25
FLA – 42

Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 24
FLA – 30

High Danger Chances For:
WSH – 5
FLA – 16

High Danger Chances For: (5v5):
WSH – 4
FLA – 12

My Takeaways:

Missed Opportunity - I am not sure the last time the Capitals blew a three goal third period lead and still lost in regulation. My guess is that its been a minute. I really am at a loss for words. This was a game that after two periods that the Capitals were absolutely in control of. I thought the Caps deserved a point here. On the bright side of things, this loss keeps the Capitals out the conversation as the best team in the league. The last thing us Caps fans want is to be in that conversation. The Caps are better suited for mid/high level regular season play so the expectations and pressure is not so high come playoff time. If the Caps win the Presidents trophy, its pretty much a guaranteed first round loss.

Young Guns Keep Contributing - Beck Malenstyn scored his first NHL goal for the Capitals. He is the seventh Capitals rookie to score goal this season. Other rookies to score are Connor McMichael, Brett Leason, Garrett Pilon, Hendrix Lapierre, Martin Fehervary, and Aliaksei Protas. The young guns are filling in so well while the Capitals continue to recover from key injuries to top players. Stat provided by twitter @CapitalsPR

Third Period – The Capitals sat back and thought they could coast to a victory in the third period against the fragile Panthers. Florida to their credit did not go without a fight. The Caps made mistakes; the Panthers took advantage. The Panthers outshot the Caps 26-2 in the third. High danger chances were 10-1 in favor of Florida in the third period. Corsi For % was 89-11 in favor of the Panthers. Holy shirt n pants! In all my years of looking at post game stats, I have NEVER seen such a lopsided period. I am gonna go out on a limb here and say this might be the most lopsided period in the last decade of NHL hockey.

Next Up the Capitals return home for a tilt against the Blackhawks on Thursday night.

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