Caps’ losing streak reaches five games

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Washington Capitals faced a team last night that won only once last month. The Caps faced a team that had been outscored by a 2-to-1 margin on special teams in the past 15 games — a team that can’t give tickets away in sunny South Florida.

And the Caps lost. In fact, it would be safe to say the Caps were their own worst enemies last night, snatching a 3-2 defeat from what appeared to be a great chance for a victory against the Florida Panthers.

The Caps (8-15-2) continued to struggle, losing their fifth consecutive game.

Rookie sensation Alex Ovechkin’s problems also continued. He was held without a goal again, and it has been 380 minutes, 55 seconds and counting since his last score — Nov. 17 against Buffalo.

“On the power play, we had great chances to score but great play by [goalie Roberto] Luongo, no way,” Ovechkin said. “The last play when I shot it, it was perfect.”

But so was the goalie, snatching what appeared to be a sure goal out of thin air with 23 seconds left in the game.

With the exception of Luongo, the Panthers (8-14-4) did everything in their power to give the game away early in the first period, but the Caps were unable or unwilling to take advantage. Washington had three power-play chances in the first five minutes, including a two-man advantage for 1:39.

Up two men for nearly 100 seconds, the Caps — with their non-existent road power play now 6-for-74 — mustered just one shot on Luongo. Washington was up at least one man for 7:43 in the first 20 minutes and did not convert.

“They say when you don’t score on a 5-on-3, it will come back to hurt you, and tonight was that case,” Caps coach Glen Hanlon said. “Our guys are working on it, trust me. They feela as responsible as anybody and we’ll get better. Some of our players are young and it’s kind of on-the-job learning. It’s a tough way to do it. There were a couple chances to finish and we didn’t get it in.”

Florida outhustled the Caps, beating them to loose pucks and controlling play territorially at times even when short a man. And this was a team that had lost 14 of its previous 15 games, some in ridiculous fashion.

For whatever reason, the spark that made these Caps feisty during the first quarter of the season was missing. The intensity that has made Washington a tough team to compete against did not make the trip. It was a shell of the club that had earned a reputation as one of the hardest-working in the NHL.

The attendance was listed as 10,092, but it appeared to be less than half that number.

“What happens here, with all due respect to the [team], when you’re playing in Toronto or Montreal when the crowd is going absolutely wild even the average games seem a lot more exciting,” Hanlon said. “The players are partly responsible, but it helps when you have a noisy building.”

Brent Johnson was in goal by design and he did a decent job. The first goal to beat him — by Stephen Weiss in the first — came on a power play when the center deflected a Joe Nieuwendyk shot. The second — a weak drive by Nathan Horton from the left circle — might have been stopped, but the third, by center Olli Jokinen, came out of a crowd, tipped off the end of Johnson’s glove and dropped into the cage.

Johnson played a strong game, certainly the best he has played since he beat Atlanta on Nov. 4 in a shootout. Like is often the case with starter Olie Kolzig, however, he didn’t receive enough help defensively and certainly not enough at the offensive end.

Washington got a goal from defenseman Bryan Muir 11 minutes into the second on a power play and from Andrew Cassels seven minutes into the third when the center was able to snap a dribbling puck past Luongo.

Notes — Defenseman Mathieu Biron (for the 10th time in 11 games) and Nolan Yonkman were healthy scratches last night. Left wing Jeff Friesen (groin) and right wing Stephen Peat (broken right hand) were the medical scratches. … Among the healthy Florida scratches was Kristian Huselius, the right wing who has five goals and eight points but is also minus-11 and has fallen out of favor. He was placed on waivers this week but was not claimed. … It is the 10th time this season the Caps have played to a 3-2 final, and they have earned a split.