The Washington Capitals are in a rut - and they know it.
Since Dec. 5, consistency has been elusive for a team that started the season with promise. The latest blow?
A 4-3 loss to a Vancouver Canucks squad that had dropped 11 straight and sits at the bottom of the standings. For the Caps, it was their fourth consecutive defeat, and the frustration is starting to boil over.
Head coach Spencer Carbery didn’t sugarcoat it postgame.
"At the end of the day, we're just making too many big mistakes," Carbery said. "I sound like a broken record, but that's just the reality of it.
We're making massive, massive mistakes. And it's throughout - you just can't in this league, it's just too competitive.
You just cannot give free goals, and that's what we're doing too much."
Let’s break that down. The issues aren’t hard to spot, and they’re especially glaring at even strength. While the Capitals’ special teams have actually been a bright spot - they even jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Vancouver thanks to that - their 5-on-5 play has been a different story.
Since Dec. 5, Washington ranks among the bottom 10 in the league in Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 (47.74).
That tells us they’re consistently getting out-possessed. And the shot totals back it up - only two teams have given up more shots in that span than the Capitals’ 562.
Defensive zone coverage has been spotty, and the team isn’t stringing together full 60-minute efforts. It's a recipe for giving away games, and in a tight playoff race, those points add up fast.
Inside the locker room, there’s no denial about where things stand. Veteran defenseman John Carlson made it clear: the team knows what’s wrong - now they’ve got to fix it.
"We talk about it ad nauseam," Carlson said. "We address it, and there's no hiding in here. We know where our game's at and what we need, what we expect from each other."
That accountability is there, but so is the urgency. And Tom Wilson, who returned to the lineup after missing eight games due to injury, offered a blunt assessment of what’s really hurting the Caps: defensive breakdowns.
"It’s tough, you’re playing every other night. We gotta defend better - that has nothing to do with the legs or energy," Wilson said.
"We’re just giving them too many odd-man rushes, we’re giving them too many times where we lose coverage and the guy’s all alone on our goaltender. I think we’re going to have to look ourselves in the mirror, defend a little bit better, and then from there, we’ll worry about the offensive end once we get there."
Wilson’s point hits home. The Capitals’ transition game - a key part of their offense - can’t get going if they’re constantly chasing the puck in their own zone. Clean exits and structured coverage are the foundation of any good attack, and right now, that foundation is cracking.
The good news? The lineup is finally back to full strength, and that should help bring some stability to the forward lines and defensive pairings.
With more consistency in personnel, chemistry and execution should follow. But as Carlson emphasized, talking about it only gets you so far.
"(There's) talking about it, and then you got to execute. I think that's the name of the game - execution," Carlson said.
"Whether it's making the right plays to get out of the zone or making the right plays in the o-zone to get a scoring chance, or when you do get a scoring chance, to bear down and score. I think we need to gather more of those key moments each game, and we got to learn pretty quick."
The message is clear: the Capitals don’t need a full overhaul - they need sharper execution, smarter decisions, and a return to the kind of disciplined hockey that helped them climb the standings earlier this season. The margin for error is shrinking, and if Washington wants to stay in the playoff conversation, the turnaround has to start now.