Capitals point streak ends at 14

OTTAWA-- The Washington Capitals' 14-game point streak ended with a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.
The Capitals hadn't lost in regulation since Dec. 27 (4-3 to the New York Islanders). Washington was 12-0-2 during the streak.
"We just weren't as sharp and it showed on our bench," Washington coach Barry Trotz said. "We weren't able to generate. Give them credit, they did some good things. We needed something to give us a spark and we never really got that spark."

WATCH: All Capitals vs. Senators highlights
Mike Condon made 31 saves, and Chris Kelly, Bobby Ryan and Zack Smith scored for the Senators (26-15-5), who are 6-1-1 in their past eight games.
It was Condon's fourth shutout of the season and fifth in 82 NHL games.
"It's just good collective success," he said. "We play a tight defensive game. We really frustrate teams, and our penalty kill has been coming up huge. Take care of those things and you kind of get the results you want.
"We're just sticking to it and not asking many questions about it."

Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves for the Capitals (32-10-6), who were trying to tie their record of 15 straight games with a point (Jan. 13-Feb. 10, 2010).
The Capitals scored at least four goals 11 times in this streak. The Senators held them to three goals total in the other three games, including 2-1 and 1-0 wins by the Capitals.
"We felt that the two previous games, especially the 2-1 game, we had so many scoring chances and their goaltender (Braden Holtby) had been unbelievable," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "We felt we were playing good enough to win.
"This is a terrific team that's basically got no flaws. They've been killing everybody lately. We knew what we were up against."

The Senators made sure there were few second chances around the net for the Capitals, who were 0-for-6 on the power play.
"Every time the puck went to the net, the goalie was in good position," Washington defenseman Karl Alzner said. "A rebound popped out and it was cleared. They got a lot of sticks on pucks. They hit guys coming out of their zone with speed. They just played a good game. We didn't get to free flow like we did last night (a 6-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes) and games before. It was good defending by them."
Smith, who signed a four-year, $13 million contract Monday, put the Senators ahead 3-0 with a power-play goal at 11:57 of the second period.
The Senators took a 2-0 in the first period on a shorthanded goal by Kelly at 1:46 and an even-strength goal by Ryan at 4:10.

Goal of the game

Dzingel made a precise pass from the right wing to Smith in the slot.

Save of the game

With the Senators up 3-0 and Washington on the power play 56 seconds into the third period, Condon got his right pad on a hard, low shot by Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin.

Highlight of the game

Kelly scored off a setup by Tom Pyatt, who carried the puck into the Capitals zone on the left wing. He found Kelly, who redirected the pass by Grubauer on his stick side.

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Unsung performance of the game

Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau continued a string of strong games against top forwards. Along with Kelly and Pyatt, they shut down Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, who had a 10-game point streak end.
"Don't let [Pageau] hear this, but he's a coach's dream," Boucher said. "Last year he had more of an offensive role, and here I am asking him to play against the top offensive lines, double-, triple-shifting him on the penalty kill. It doesn't matter what you ask him. He just does it."

They said it

"He's a player that competes really hard. That's why he's a great player. I was just trying to compete as hard as him." -- Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau on playing against Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin
"I don't want to get beat on clean shots, but I've got to make a stop on that first one. It's a tough start. It put us back there, one behind on the first shot. That was a slow game today. I don't think we got into it too much." -- Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer

Need to know

The Senators played without forward Mike Hoffman (illness), who is tied for the Ottawa lead in goals with 17 (Kyle Turris). … Capitals forward Jay Beagle (illness) also did not play. … Backstrom played his 700th NHL game. … Former coach and general manager Bryan Murray became the first member of the Senators Ring of Honour in a pregame ceremony.

What's next

Capitals: At the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, CSN-DC, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Calgary Flames on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, SNW, NHL.TV)