"Everything was working in the Washington Capitals' favor. Despite an injury to leading scorer Nicklas Backstrom, they were rolling along thanks to an advantageous home schedule against four straight opponents who played the day before.

Tuesday it all came to a crashing thud with a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders at Verizon Center — a listless performance that taught the Caps yet another lesson about how quickly things can go terribly wrong."