After a flat first period that saw them head into intermission trailing 1-0, the Capitals came out in the second with a noticeable jolt of energy. The spark came early, and it came from Jakob Chychrun, who buried two goals in the opening half of the frame to flip the script and give Washington a 2-1 lead. For a moment, it looked like the Caps had found their rhythm and were ready to take control against a Panthers squad that, on paper, should’ve been running low on gas.
But then came the five-minute stretch that unraveled it all.
Less than two minutes after Chychrun’s second tally, Sam Bennett slipped away from Dylan Strome in front of the net, pounced on a rebound, and buried the tying goal. It was a gut punch - not just because it erased the momentum, but because it exposed a defensive lapse that’s been creeping into the Capitals' game more often than they’d like.
Still, a 2-2 game with half the contest left? That’s manageable.
But the next sequence made things a whole lot tougher. A routine puck flip from the captain sailed over the glass - delay of game.
The kind of penalty that feels harmless until it isn’t. And even though Florida’s power play has been as inconsistent as Washington’s this season, they made this one count.
Quick puck movement, a clean finish, and just like that, the Panthers were back on top.
That goal stood up as the game-winner, despite the Capitals generating a fair share of looks the rest of the way. The effort was there, but the execution - especially in the critical moments - just wasn’t. Florida added a couple of empty-netters late to pad the score and twist the knife, but the damage had already been done in that second-period swing.
Now the road gets longer - literally and figuratively. The Caps are heading out on their longest road trip of the season, a six-game stretch that starts in Denver against a powerhouse Avalanche team on Monday afternoon. It’s a tough draw to open a crucial stretch, but it’s also an opportunity: six games away from home, six chances to reset the tone and prove they can hang with the league’s best.