Montreal's two goals against Caps were not just shocking, they broke the record

The Caps looked like Thursday 's game in hand towards the end of the third period. But everything changed with a bad pass.

Washington led 4-3 with less than 3:30 in the match. John Carlson threw a puck and the race was started. In search of the exclamation point to finish the win, the Caps went up the ice. However, as he entered the offensive zone, Carlson slid a pass well behind Brett Connolly, running away from the race and bringing the puck back to Montreal.

"The last three minutes of the third period we have not played our game at all," Ovechkin said. "We sit down, we do not put pressure on their D and we give them a kind of freedom."

Nine seconds later, the match was tied.

Victor Mete grabbed the capricious pass to bring it back into the Caps' offensive zone, a battle started behind the Caps net and Artturi Lehkonen sent the puck into the net for Jesperi Kotkaniemi to score the equalizer.

Mete recorded a secondary help on the game that started when he took the Carlson pass.

Already disappointed at not being able to retain their victory, the game grew and Montreal scored two more goals (record) to lose a lead of one goal to Caps in two goals.

But it all started with Carlson's bad pass.

"We were trapped in having possession of the ball and not running a pass or fumbling the puck," Eller said. "It's pretty unusual for us. It was a lot of that today, so it was a strange game. This is not usually our way of playing.

The responsibility for the loss does not belong entirely to Carlson. Puck's mismanagement was a problem for the whole team, not just for him.

"There was too much today and that's probably the reason we lost," Eller said.

Puck management has been a problem for Caps this season. Despite this, Washington entered Thursday's game with a 5-3-2 record. The disastrous loss in Montreal stings, but could prove beneficial if the lesson is learned.

No track is safe if you can not handle the puck. The Caps must be smarter, otherwise they will suffer more disappointing losses.

"One thing if we want to be a solid team we will have to improve, in the last three years, the third period with a lead has been our strength," said Braden Holtby.

"We have to get the teams to go 200 feet if they want to score," said Todd Reirden. "Do not go into the blue line and do not play with someone late and put it in your goal."

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