DETROIT -- A three-goal outburst in the first period allowed the Washington Capitals to withstand a furious third period rally by the Red Wings, as the Caps held on to defeat Detroit 5-3 on Monday night at the Joe Louis Arena. Detroit now finds themselves in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
Led by Alex Ovechkin’s two goals, Washington handed the depleted Wings their fifth straight loss.
While injuries have contributed to Detroit’s recent demise, the Wings have been far from special on special teams.
Washington was 3 of 4 on the power play – the last power play goal was into an empty net - and even though they had a power play goal of their own, it was Detroit’s first power play tally of the month.
Until Kyle Quincey scored with the man advantage at the 5:15 mark of the second period, to cut the Caps advantage to 3-1, the Wings were 0 for 30 on the power play in March.
“We had a few breakdowns, we went to the box a little too much in the first period,” said Wings defenseman Nik Kronwall. “We made it hard on ourselves. It’s tough when you’re down 3-0, you dig yourself a hole. We have to find a way to be better than this.”
Detroit trailed by three after one period of play. Ovechkin had two power play goals, and sandwiched in between was an even strength tally by former Wing Mike Knuble.
After Quincey’s goal put the Wings on the board, Keith Aucion put the Caps back up by three late in the second period with his third goal of the season.
A determined Red Wing team took to the ice in the third period, and it paid off early as Todd Bertuzzi notched his 13th goal of the season at the :36 second mark.
Dan Cleary brought the Wings within one with his third period goal (12:52), his 12th of the season.
The Wings were buzzing in that third period and outshot the Caps 11 to 3, but with Henrik Zetterberg sent to the box on a controversial holding call, Jason Chimera put the game out of reach by scoring an empty net power play goal with 21 seconds to play.
“With the lineup we have, I don’t think we can’t race anybody to four or five, we’ve got to win three-two or two-one,” said Red Wing coach Mike Babcock. “You have to give up as little as you can and be sound defensively.
“We had lots of effort, I’ve got no problem with that, but you can’t get behind, especially to a good team.”
Defenseman Brad Stuart thought the Wings were gassed because, for the second game in a row, Detroit was forced to play from behind.
“It’s definitely harder playing catch-up hockey than it is when you have the lead. You’re spending more energy than you do if you have the lead,” said Stuart. “We just back from California on Sunday and at some point it’s going to catch up to you, It’s not an excuse, it’s a mistake for us to be playing from behind all the time.”
After Monday’s morning skate, Babcock told reporters that he thought his team was fragile and just needed to win some hockey games. After falling short on Monday, Babcock was asked if he was encouraged by the way the Wings fought back.
“Anytime in pro sport, I think confidence is fleeting,” said Babcock. “When things aren’t going your way it's amazing; some years you’ve got a good team and you lose a couple in a row and suddenly your confidence isn’t as good.
“We were so confident a little while ago at home and now we’re not the same group. The bottom line is just embracing the structure of your team and the work effort and everything will be fine.”
Babcock added that for all the good things the Wings did against the Caps, you can’t keep digging the puck out of your net.
“There are not a lot of moral victories in this sport,” he said.
Detroit will try and get back to their winning ways this Wednesday night as they take on the Eastern Conference’s number one team, the New York Rangers, at Madison Square Garden.
“We can’t sit around feeling sorry for ourselves, we’re not going anywhere that way” said Kronwall. “We have to find a way to come together as a group and move forward.
“We’re a really good team when we’re playing the way we want to be playing the game. We have to remain positive.”
NOTES: The already injury-riddled Wings learned on Monday that center Darren Helm will be out four-to-six weeks with a sprained MCL. He suffered the injury during Saturday's 3-2 OT loss at San Jose The team was already without captain and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (deep bone bruise in his right ankle), defenseman Jonathan Ericsson (broken left wrist), defenseman Jakub Kindl (strained oblique), right wing Johan Franzen (back spasms) and goalie Joey MacDonald (back). . Washington goalie Tomas Vokoun missed his second game with a lingering groin injury.
