Capitals Vs. Senators: Washington Ends Road Trip With Three Straight Losses, Falls 5-2 In Ottawa

The Washington Capitals were in a tough position to salvage their four-game road trip Wednesday. Already missing Nicklas Backstrom (concussion), the Caps were without captain Alex Ovechkin, who missed the game with a lower-body injury. Without their two leading scorers, the Caps could not muster up any sustained offense in a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Erik Karlsson, Milan Michalek, Chris Phillips and Nick Foligno scored for the Senators, who have won five of their last six games. Meanwhile, the Caps are trending in the opposite direction, having lost three straight after opening the road trip with a win Friday.

John Carlson and Mathieu Perreault scored for Washington in the third period (including the latter with his face off a redirect) to cut Ottawa's lead in half at 4-2, but it would not get any closer than that.

With the road trip over, the Caps return home for a quick stop Friday against the Montreal Canadiens before heading back to Canada to face the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday.

The Washington Capitals entered Wednesday's game against the Ottawa Senators missing their top two scorers: Alex Ovechkin (lower-body) and Nicklas Backstrom (concussion). Their presence is definitely missed. Meanwhile, the Senators' scorers continue to heat up

Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek scored in the first period to give Ottawa a 2-0 lead over Washington after 20 minutes.

Karlsson continued his hot streak at 9:36 when he took a cross-ice pass from Jason Spezza and fired a wrist shot through Tomas Vokoun's legs for his 13th goal of the season. Karlsson has a five-game point streak (five goals, six assists).

Karlsson's most recent assist came about five minutes after his goal when he helped set up Michalek for his 26th goal of the season. With Dmitry Orlov out of position to grab a new stick from the bench, Karlsson found Michalek cutting down the boards. Michalek did all the rest as he held off Dennis Wideman on his way to the net and slid the puck past Vokoun.

For the fifth time in six games, the Caps trail 2-0.

The Washington Capitals are coming off a lopsided 5-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday and are trying to right the ship to win enough games to make the NHL playoffs. The Caps have dropped five of their last six games as they head into a road matchup with the Ottawa Senators.

Unlike the Caps, the Senators are on a three-game winning streak where they've crush all three of their opponents, including a 6-0 beat down of the New York Islanders on Monday. The Senators are looking to continue their run and finish the season strong as they head towards the playoffs.

Location: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Game Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

TV Schedule: CSN

Radio: WFED

For more on the Washington Capitals, visit SB Nation's Capitals blog Japer's Rink. For more on the Carolina Hurricanes visit SB Nation's Senators blog Silver Seven. For more on the NHL visit SB Nation's NHL hub.

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will not play Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators because of a lower-body injury, according to WashingtonCaps.com Senior Writer Mike Vogel.

After leaving Monday's 5-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes with what head coach Dale Hunter called an "equipment issue," Ovechkin did not practice Tuesday before skating for only eight minutes Wednesday. After morning skate Wednesday, Ovechkin said he was not feeling well and would see how he felt closer to game time, a sentiment Hunter reiterated a few moments later when he told reporters that Ovechkin would be a game-time decision with a lower-body injury.

Now that Ovechkin will officially be absent from the roster, the Caps will have to try to snap a two-game losing streak without their biggest offensive producers and two leading scorers: Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (concussion). Dennis Wideman will be Washington's active leading scorer Wednesday with 38 points.

For more on the Caps, please visit SB Nation's Caps blog, Japers' Rink.

Washington Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik is available and being shopped around, according to a report from Renaud P. Lavoie of Canadian outlet RDS.

Hamrlik, who signed a two-year, $7 million contract with the Caps on the first day of free agency last summer, is in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his almost 20-year career, having just two goals and 10 points in 55 games, though he does have a team-high 119 blocked shots. Hamrlik is apparently unhappy in Washington, according to Lavoie (translated from French via Google Translate):

Roman Hamrlik had enough of Washington and would like to play elsewhere. To be honest, nothing is easy in this team now and it weighs heavily on the shoulders of several players.

Hamrlik has been offered a few teams, but the Capitals are very demanding [in terms of what they want in return for Hamrlik].

Coincidentally, Roman Hamrlik will be a healthy scratch Wednesday when the Caps face the Ottawa Senators.

"You want him to be a defensive defenseman," head coach Dale Hunter said of Hamrlik to reporters Wednesday after the team's morning skate. "He's giving up too many chances, so he's out of the lineup. Giving up too many scoring chances; he took a bad penalty last game, so we're going to put someone else in."

Perhaps one team that could have interest in Hamrlik's services is the St. Louis Blues, which has had team officials at Washington's games recently. As a barometer of what the Caps might expect if they do decide to trade Hamrlik, Hamrlik's former Montreal Canadiens teammate and fellow veteran defenseman Hal Gill was traded to the Nashville Predators February 17 in exchange for a second-round draft pick and two prospects.

The NHL trade deadline is this coming Monday, February 27, at 3 p.m. EST.

UPDATE: Hamrlik's agent, Petr Svboda, has told The Washington Times' Stephen Whyno that he has not yet requested a trade.

After leaving Wednesday morning's early skate only about eight minutes in, the status of Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin is up in the air. He was seen limping after the team's 5-0 loss to Carolina on Monday night after a hip check by the Hurricanes Bryan Allen about eight minutes into the second period and was limited to a mere 15 minutes 43 seconds of ice time.

Washington Post Capitals insider Katie Carrera was at the morning skate and witnessed Ovechking attempting to skate on it.

While he was on the ice, Ovechkin appeared to be testing something out. Just before he went back down the tunnel he tried to gather speed and explode through the neutral zone but after a few strides had to pull up. He skated over to the bench immediately and left the ice.

Keith Aucoin has been recalled from Hershey just in case Ovechkin is not ready to go this evening. If he is unable to go, the task gets stiffer for the Capitals to reverse their fortunes after losing five of their last six games, still two points out of the Southeast Division lead behind Winnipeg and Florida and two points behind Toronto for the final spot in the Eastern Conference.