The Stanley Cup Playoffs are often a painful reminder to fans that the line between victory and defeat in professional hockey is as thin as you’ll find in the world of sports.
The Washington Capitals were on the learning side of this lesson last Sunday afternoon.
One hundred twenty-six seconds was all that was needed for the trio of Matt Rempe, Artemi Panerin, and Jimmy Vesey to turn a 0-0 tie into a commanding 3-0 lead in the second period. It was a swing in momentum that brought Madison Square Garden to its feet and left Washington in a hole it couldn’t climb out of, dropping Game 1 to the number 1 seed New York Rangers.
“We’ve got to find a way to get a little bit more offensively,” Spencer Carbery told reporters from the podium after the game. “It’s no secret we’ve struggled all year, but we’ve got to find ways to create more on the interior, we’ve got to skate out of pressure, keep pucks off the yellow. We continually just rim pucks around; we’ve got to do a better job offensively.”
Washington’s offensive efforts were led by Martin Fehervary, who managed to score the team’s only goal. Fehervary’s tally marked his first career playoff goal, which came off a deflection from the left post off of a Tom Wilson wrist shot.
That's the first career playoff goal for Marty Party pic.twitter.com/d12FV1UXWq
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 21, 2024
Wilson spoke to reporters from the post-game locker room, saying, “It’s Game 1; it’s a tough building to come into. They probably owned five minutes of that game, and we fell behind. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to manage the atmosphere a little bit when they get rolling. Other than that, we did some good things. Probably have to get a little bit more to their net, generate a little bit more offense.”
Washington’s power play unit was blanked against New York, and it was not due to a lack of opportunities. The Rangers gifted the Caps four power plays that came up empty, and Captain Alex Ovechkin was held shotless on all four chances.
“Entries were a massive issue, as everybody watched,” Carbery said when asked about the power play struggles in the game.
“We’ve got to start there before we can even talk about the in-zone sequences and what we’re looking for. We had a few in-zone sequences, but not nearly enough for as many power plays as we generated. So, the entries, for sure, we’ll look at doing some different things personnel-wise. It’s exactly as we thought it would be, from their diamond to their 1-3, all the things that they do. We’ve just got to do a way better job, especially if there are going to be that many power plays going forward.”
All eyes shift to Game 2 tonight at Madison Square Garden, where Washington looks to steal a game on the road before returning to Capital One Arena on Friday night.
In the meantime, Washington’s defensive injuries continue to ail a group that will need all the help they can get against the 2024 Presidents Trophy-winning Rangers. Vincent Iorio’s Game 1 injury leaves his status “day-to-day,” according to Head Coach Spencer Carbery. Iorio’s start on Sunday resulted from Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen on the injury list.
According to Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network, Jensen and Sandin were spotted wearing non-contact jerseys, leaving their future status still in the air.
Related: Jensen and Sandin are still wearing no-contact jerseys. #ALLCAPS https://t.co/c93KBXVtJY
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) April 23, 2024
Washington has since moved to bring Haman Aktell from Washington’s AHL affiliate Hershey Bears to suit up for the Caps.
The Capitals will look to rely on the formula that got them here to steal a win on the road tonight. Alex Ovechkin’s production, Charlie Lindgren standing tall between the pipes, and special teams generating goals on the power play.
“It’s one game,” Goalie Charlie Lindgren said after the 4-1 loss. “Didn’t go our way tonight, and we’ll have to bounce back next game.”