Capitals give up five first-period goals, get blanked in Arizona 6-0

Monday proved to be a bad day in the office for the Washington Capitals, ending their west coach tour on a sour note by getting shut 6-0 in Arizona.

It’s hard to know what to make of such a bad outing for Washington, who were outplayed entirely from start to finish. The loss in Arizona also marked the fourth shutout loss of the year for the Caps, whose west coast tour finished with a 2-3 record heading into a crucial stretch of games in the next month.

When all was said and done by the end of the first period, it felt like the boys in red and white were ready to gather their stuff, head to the team plane, and fly back home to Dulles Airport to regroup.

By the numbers, it’s almost hard to believe just how quickly the first 20 minutes of the game unraveled for Washington. The Coyotes scored five goals on ten shots in the opening frame and scored two on the first two shot attempts. Capitals starting Goalie Darcy Kuemper was pulled in the first period after surrendering three goals, while Charlie Lindgren came in off the bench to allow three goals of his own.

Carbery tells The Junkies Kuemper has been put in tough spots early, w/ Grade As right away in gms. Still, Carbery said he can be sharper. “He’s had some moments but I still feel like he’s trying to find his level of play and what he’s capable of…for his expectations.” #Caps

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) December 6, 2023

On the opposing bench, the Arizona Coyotes are on a five-game heater, going 5-0 in their last five games and, more impressively, doing so against the last five Stanley Cup Champion teams.

Coyotes just beat the last 5 Stanley Cup winners in a row. Amazing. Connor Ingram has been brilliant.

— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) December 5, 2023

Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carbery spoke to the Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan about the recent struggles, saying, “It’s been really, really challenging, and unfortunately, we just haven’t
been hitting on all cylinders offensively with our group individually, and so we’re trying to find ways to manufacture offense from our top six, and we haven’t been able to find that.”

One can only hope that the Capital’s loss in Arizona was not a sign of things to come but rather a bad night at the end of a long road trip. Because two things that were problems before the game remained problems after the game. One is that the Cap’s power play continues to be a glaring problem, only having scored five goals on the season, and two is Alex Ovechkin’s scoreless streak, which has reached seven games.

While the rest of us make our way closer to the most wonderful time of the year, Washington is entering an important stretch of games over the next month and a half. Ten of the next 15 opponents will be against familiar faces in the Metropolitan Division. The Caps look to rebound when the Dallas Stars come to town on Thursday night with an 8 pm EST puck drop on ESPN.