As the horn sounded to end Monday's 6-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Capitals quickly retreated off of the unfriendly ice and into the locker room. No, the game was not in Raleigh. The unfriendly ice was at Capital One Arena where wins have been much tougher to come by this season than the Caps are used to.
Monday's loss is Washington's third loss at home in four games. Though it ended on a sour note, March was a good month for the Caps who finished with a 9-3-1 record. All three of those regulation losses, however, came at home.
For the season, Washington is just 16-14-5 at home. That is just barely above .500 and quite comfortably the lowest home points percentage for any of the Eastern Conference playoff teams.
"It's one of those that I can't put my finger on it," Garnet Hathaway said.
Teams need to be able to find wins at home, but finding reasons for the team's struggles at Capital One Arena is proving to be just as difficult as winning there.
"I don’t think you can take one brush and just paint it and say this is what we should do as a team," head coach Peter Laviolette said.
If there is a silver lining it is that the Caps have been very strong on the road this season. While Washington is only 16-14-5 at home, they are 21-7-5 on the road.
The Capitals will almost certainly finish the season as a wild card team which will mean ceding home ice to their opponents in the playoffs. They will need to be able to win on the road to advance.
Considering the disparity between home and road records, the team also recognizes that there is something they are doing well on the road that they just have not been able to carry over to home ice. They just need to figure out what that is so they replicate it at Capital One Arena.
"I think a big part of it is the mindset we have going into it," Hathaway said.
He continued, "I know how hard we go into games on the road. I know the mentality we have, we play faster. So it's getting that mindset and being able to do it in Cap One in front of our fans because it's not acceptable not doing it."
The Link LonkMarch 29, 2022 at 08:18AM
https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/capitals/wins-capital-one-arena-are-hard-come-capitals
Wins at Capital One Arena are hard to come by for the Capitals - NBC Sports
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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