The Washington Capitals made some fairly substantial moves at the trade deadline, but so far, their struggles continue. They lost their third game in a row as the Boston Bruins blanked them 3-0 on Thursday.
After the game, Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner expressed concern about the team’s aggressiveness.
Karl Alzner: “The killer instinct isn’t there right now and it needs to be there because we’re running out of time.” #Caps
— Katie Carrera (@kcarrera) March 7, 2014
If it makes the Caps feel any better, the Bruins expressed some glee regarding their defensive work in this contest.
Tuukka Rask on 3-0 win over Caps: "That's the best defensive game we've had in a long, long time." #BruinsTalk
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) March 7, 2014
It seems as if the issue boils down to a combination of the Capitals’ offensive inefficiency and Boston’s stingy defense, as Rask only needed to make 16 saves. Still, the Bruins have made strong attacks look faint before (see: the 2013 Eastern Conference finals), yet there might be a larger concern.
Excluding OT v. PHI, the #Caps have been held to five or fewer shots in five of their last eight periods of play.
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) March 7, 2014
Washington currently finds itself out of the East’s top eight in a congested playoff picture, so the Capitals need to find answers. As Alzner might note, those answers need to come quickly, too.