Washington Capitals struggle in 4-0 loss to Carolina Hurricanes: Defensive mistakes and offensive woes exposed

A night filled with defensive struggles, missed opportunities and uninspired performances has left the Caps searching for answers ahead of Game 4.

John Carlson had a game to forget by finishing with a disastrous performance since he was on the ice for all four of the Hurricanes' goals including two particularly big mistakes.

Eric Robinson beat John Carlson one-on-one on a rush which led to Carolina's third goal and moments later, he misplayed a faceoff sequence that allowed Andrei Svechnikov to score.

He was paired with Jakob Chychrun an John Carlson was on the ice for 14 Carolina scoring chances at five-on-five, the worst on the team.

Logan Thomspon has been a standout for Washington in the playoffs and had a rare off night since he stopped just 24 of 28 shots and allowed 1.42 more goals than expected, according to MoneyPuck.

Despite a strong start, the Capitals' offense vanished and they managed only two shot attempts in an 11-minute stretch during the second period when Carolina scored twice.

Even more concerning, young stars Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael combined for zero shot attempts in nearly 18 minutes of ice time each.

The usually dependable fourth line struggled with Brandon Duhaime on the ice for both Hurricanes' power-play goals and at five-on-five, the fourth line was consistently outplayed.

With the series now 2-1 in favor of the Hurricanes, the Capitals must rediscover their game in Game 4 to avoid facing a daunting 3-1 deficit.