I sat through all of that game. I haven't been more disappointed in this team this season. That may seem harsh, considering we got potted for 7 goals not that long ago. But in that game we didn't even show up. You know what was so pathetic about this "effort"? After not showing up in the first, showing up for a few shifts in the start of the second, the Caps did what they usually do. Take the night off, try to rally in the third.
What was pathetic was then to see every good play we made be outdone by 2 or 3 good defensive plays by Anaheim. For all the people saying Anaheim played like you should with a lead, I agree. They weren't playing to score though, you should note that. When they got in the zone they played keepaway cycle, and leveraged the body. But we did push in the third period, only to be thoroughly outplayed.
This looked like a Washington Capitals playoff game. The effort we played with in the third period, where we were forcing Anaheim to make defensive plays is how you have to play all periods, every shift you can. I don't know if it's arrogance, over confidence, lack of fortitude, I don't know anymore. It's hard to tell. All I know is sometimes this team plays in a way that suggests they only want to get it done when it's easy. That isn't the NHL. That isn't the playoffs. It's going to be hard every series, every game, and you can't take anything for granted. If you want to point to a reason why we never get out of the 2nd round maybe it's inside the psyche of some of our core players.
