Takeaways: Capitals Fall To Blackhawks In Sloppy Showing, Drop Back-To-Back Games For Second Time This Season

Over the course of the season, the Washington Capitals have shown resilience and have been able to find ways to win, regardless of the situation. Tuesday's meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks just wasn't one of those games.

A fatigued Capitals team, which not only played just 24 hours before but experienced flight issues that shook up their schedule and led to travel on their game day, surrendered three unanswered goals and couldn't come back in a 3-2 loss to the Blackhawks.

Here are all the takeaways from the defeat as D.C. drops to 7-2 after losses this season:

Capitals Go Up Early With Highlight Goals From Dubois & Mangiapane

The Capitals got off to a solid start against Chicago, and it was all thanks to standout plays from Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane.

Dubois has been heating up of late for Washington, and early in the first, he outraced Louis Crevier and capitalized on a fumbled puck before taking the puck to the net and sneaking it past Arvid Soderblom.

The 27-year-old now has points in five of his last six and 15 points in his last 18 games overall, and he is on pace to finish his first year in the District with 58 points.

Later in the frame, Andrew Mangiapane, who missed Tuesday's tilt with illness, chose to put on a show of his own, going coast-to-coast and toedragging past T.J. Brodie before sliding the puck past Soderblom to make it 2-0 for D.C.

It marked Mangiapane's seventh goal of the season.

Capitals' Sloppy Play Leads To Setback As Chicago Creeps Back Into Game

After the first 20 minutes, things went south for the fatigued Capitals, who not only played just 24 hours before but experienced flight issues that shook up their schedule and led to travel on their game day.

In the second, Washington made several mistakes and fumbled the puck time and time again, as the team was ultimately outshot 9-6 and gave up quite a few chances to the Blackhawks.

Passes weren't connecting, offense wasn't coming easy, and D.C. just struggled overall in a frustrating period. It's been a pattern this season in that middle frame, and it's a habit the team will surely want to break as time goes on.

Thankfully, Logan Thompson was sharp and kept the team in it, but ultimately, Chicago would break through in disappointing fashion to open the third.

Just 51 seconds into the final frame, with Washington on the power play, Jakob Chychrun mispassed, leading to a shorthanded break for the Blackhawks and a goal for Ilya Mikheyev.

Then, with just over five minutes left in regulation, T.J. Brodie fired home a wrist shot to even the score 2-2.

With just 2:18 remaining, Ryan Donato again capitalized on lazy play and pulled off a power move to the net, where he dunked the puck past Logan Thompson for the game-winner.

Overall, it was a sloppy showing for both teams, but mostly for D.C., who couldn't coast to a win.

Lackluster Power Play Costly Again In Loss

The Capitals' power play struggled once again, going 0-for-3 on the man advantage, including on a 6-on-4 man advantage with 10.2 seconds remaining for the game-tying goal.

Dylan Strome argued that the Blackhawks were covering the puck as time ticked down, but D.C. ultimately couldn't find twine after a strong start.

Execution was again an issue, and Washington also gave up a shorthanded goal.

On the bright side, the penalty kill went 4-for-4 against Connor Bedard's club.

Top Shelf Takes

- Lars Eller picked up a primary assist, and six of his seven helpers this season have been primary.

- Jakub Vrana also had a helper, marking his first point since returning to the lineup following 10 consecutive healthy scratches. He also had the least amount of ice time with just over eight minutes.

- Tuesday's game marked career game No. 200 for Aliaksei Protas.

- Logan Thompson stopped 20 of 23 shots in what marked just his second regulation loss of the season.