The Washington Capitals, as they have so many times this season , dominated through two periods, taking a 3-1 lead into the final frame against the Ottawa Senators Monday evening.
What followed was "a collapse by 20 guys and I don't know how else to sugarcoat it," according to coach Bruce Boudreau after the game.
Ottawa scored twice in the third to tie and Mike Fisher, the NHL's No. 3 star of the week last week, batted home a centering pass from Chris Phillips past Semyon Varlamov (33 saves) in overtime to seal Washington's fate.
The Capitals (13-5-6), tied for the lead in the Eastern Conference with Pittsburgh, lost for the fourth time in five games (1-2-2) during a very trying time on the schedule, and with the accumulation of injuries across the team.
Missing again from the lineup were Alexander Semin, Milan Jurcina, Boyd Gordon, Shaone Morrisonn, Tom Poti, Mike Knuble and Quintin Laing.
No one wants to blame injuries and the schedule for the recent troubles, but reasons are different than excuses.
"I don't think the problem was physical," center David Steckel said. "I just think mentally we shut it down."
"It's a tough loss. I still can't really believe that we let it ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Dave Nichols
Capitals-Senators: Caps “Collapse” in Third, Lose to Sens 4-3 in OT
November 24th, 2009 by Dave Nichols Leave a reply »
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