The Washington Capitals' 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night was especially infuriating because the Capitals gave up three goals in the final four and a half minutes of the game. It all began, though, with a goal that was the most infuriating of all.
Leading 1-0 after a goal by Troy Brouwer with 4:46 to go in the game, the Capitals seemingly made an easy clear of the zone. Nashville got the puck back, skated across the blue line and the Capitals players got lazy. Two passes later, the Predators had a game-tying goal.
After the game, the explanation given was pretty infuriating.
"I think all the guys on the ice thought it was offside, so they stopped playing," [Bruce] Boudreau said. "And [the Predators] didn’t stop playing. That’s why you have to play to the whistle. Just looking at the replay, guys were putting up their hands and they stopped skating, and they kept coming. That’s why it looked so easy."
As you watch the video, you see a team thinking the referee will bail them out. Maybe they aren't not trying per se, but they certainly aren't giving it their all. It ended up leading to a loss, and that's infuriating for fans.