WASHINGTON (AP) The Washington Capitals suffered their sixth straight loss, falling to the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Sunday night, further undermining their chances of making the playoffs in the latter stages of the NHL season. Charlie Lindgren let up three goals on 21 shots, the final coming from Jake Sanderson in overtime.
With five games remaining, the Capitals are on the outside looking in, despite goals from Max Pacioretty and Aliaksei Protas. They are tied with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the New York Islanders, and one point behind Detroit for the second and last wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Defenseman John Carlson, who was congratulated before the puck dropped for surpassing the 1,000-game mark, stated, “We just need to play better.” We’re not exactly going as strong as we were when we were there, in my opinion. Too many turnovers, too many errors that we ought to be avoiding, and too much life given to teams beyond what they need or require.
Tuesday night’s matchup between Carlson and his teammates and the Red Wings might be crucial in the postseason quest, even though Washington is already in a tough situation after losing to Ottawa.
This one collapsed similarly to Friday, when, with 1:51 remaining in regulation, the Caps gave up the game-winning goal to Carolina. This time, the winner came from Sanderson 41 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime after Ridley Greig scored with 7:17 remaining in regulation.
Center Hendrix Lapierre stated, “Obviously, it’s frustrating.” Especially at this time of year, you want to win. There were a few games that went into overtime and a few where the goal was scored in the final few minutes. It’s just been a little difficult, but we’ll keep working and put our heads down.
They not only lost the game, but Rasmus Sandin, a defenseman, was also lost to what the team described as an upper-body injury. After being bumped during his last shift, Sandin’s head struck a stanchion, and coach Spencer Carbery said that he will be out for some time.
“It’s not perfect,” Carlson remarked. He plays a significant role in our team, and you never want to see that in anyone else. Although it’s a blow, we can’t spend time lamenting over our situation. We must prevail and wish for the best.
With a goal from Mark Kastlic and 19 saves from Joonas Korpisalo in goal, the Senators snapped their three-game losing streak.
“It wasn’t simple,” Greig said. The guys persisted through it all. It’s encouraging to see us fight back and finish the entire 65 minutes there.
Next up
The Senators will visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night as part of a three-game road trip.
Caps: In yet another opportunity for each club to improve its prospects of making the playoffs, Lindgren is expected to start for the 12th time in 13 games against the Red Wings.
