With what the Vancouver Canucks have done in the past few weeks, Monday's performance on the road was a complete surprise. And a complete disappointment too as the Washington Capitals took advantage of a very flat opponent and skated away with a 5-1 win.
The Canucks were extremely fortunate to be down 2-1 after the first period, one that saw them get out-shot 10-2. Alexander Edler's power play goal was book-ended ny goals from Capitals forward Alexander Semin and d-man Mike Green.
Just when you thought the Canucks couldn't have a more unfortunate period in the middle frame, they went backwards. A single shot on net was all the visitors could show for their efforts while the Caps netted three more on 15 shots. Roberto Luongo's last goal allowed was a penalty shot converted by Michael Nylander late in the period. Fellow netminder Curtis Sanford came in between the pipes for the final twenty and stopped all 10 shots he faced.
It's the type of game players and coaches would much rather forget about and have the game film destroyed. However, with this being the club's first loss and with the fact their next opponent is the defending Stanley Cup Champions, they will have to think about what went wrong. More importantly, they'll need to think about how to fix what went wrong, because if they're not ready to rebound in a big way in Detroit on Thursday, they could be in trouble when they take on the Red Wings in Motown.
Tomorrow the club will practice here in Washington and have a chance to see some of the sights around the city. This is my first time here in the U.S. capital and it really is a great place. I'm looking forward to doing some sight-seeing of my own once I'm away from the rink.
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