The Caps are in the Motor City on Sunday, where they will finish off a three-game road trip against the Detroit Red Wings. The game also finishes off the first half of the 2018-19 season for Washington, and it concludes the season's series between the Caps and the Wings. The Capitals won each of the first two meetings between the two teams this season, with both of those games played in Washington.
For the first time this season, the Caps come into Sunday's game lugging a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Washington lost its final game of calendar 2018 on Monday, losing 6-3 to Nashville on home ice. The Caps also dropped the opener of a three-game road trip and a set of back-to-back contests on Thursday in St. Louis, 5-2.
Playing the back half of that set of games on consecutive nights, the Caps fell down 2-1 in overtime to the Stars in Dallas, but at least left the building feeling much better about themselves at night's end.
Tyler Seguin won it for the Stars in overtime, scoring his second goal of the night, and the Caps had chances of their own to win it before it got that far. Seguin's first goal came on the power play, so the Caps could draw satisfaction from being spotless at five-on-five in front of goaltender Pheonix Copley after yielding nine even-strength goals in their previous two losses.
"I think we played well enough to get away with two points and the two power plays there at the end didn't get rewarded today," says Caps center Lars Eller, who scored Washington's lone goal on Friday, "but we were right there to get the 2-1 lead a couple of times. I think we were closer to getting the 2-1 lead than maybe they were at the end there, at least. There were some positives."
Since scoring three or more goals in 14 straight games and averaging nearly four and a half goals per game over that span, the Caps' attack has endured a market correction. Washington has scored just 19 goals in eight games - an average of 2.38 per contest - since that streak of prosperity, and the team is 4-3-1 over that stretch. The Caps went 12-2-0 over their previous 14 contests.
"Even when we are not at our sharpest," said Caps goalie Braden Holtby earlier in the week, "we are still finding ways of getting it done, and that's defensively being sharp. And if things aren't coming easy in the offensive zone, we are really tracking back and trying to find different ways of having success. I think it shows the growth in our team, and it's something that we knew we'd have to do at some point of the season because sometimes the goals dry up at times and you have to rely on your defense to win you games."
Detroit has been decimated by injuries of late, particularly to its blueline. While the Wings recently got forwards Darren Helm and Anthony Mantha back after stints on injured reserve, Detroit is still playing without a trio of regular defensemen - former Capital Mike Green (ankle), Danny DeKeyser (hand) and Trevor Daley (foot).
Helm has been back for two games now and Mantha for one, and the Wings ended a six-game winless spell (0-4-2) with a Friday night overtime victory over the Nashville Predators in Detroit. The Wings overcame a two-goal deficit to win on Dylan Larkin's goal in the final minute of the extra session.
With Washington in town on Sunday for the fourth game of a five-game homestand, the Red Wings will be seeking to string together consecutive victories for the first time since Nov. 28-Dec. 1. Detroit has won four of 16 games (4-8-4) since then.
Detroit has 16 victories on the season, and more than half (nine) of them came during a 25-day span in which the Wings went 9-2-0 from Oct. 28-Nov. 21.
