Takeaways: Tom Wilson Provides Spark But Mistakes Costly As Capitals Come Up Short vs. Rangers In Game 2, Trail Series 2-0

The Washington Capitals' start to Game 2 was packed with promise, but after a strong first seven minutes of play, things would go downhill. And ultimately, a rough team effort and mistakes proved costly, and a late rally came up short in a deflating loss to the New York Rangers.

Tom Wilson provided a spark with a multi-point game and the offense showed growth, but D.C. ultimately fell 4-3.

Here are the takeaways from the defeat as Washington trails the series 2-0.

Mistakes Costly As Capitals Let Rangers Stars Shine, Momentum Shifts In New York's Favor

The Capitals got off to the start they were looking for early on, as the first few minutes saw them dominate 6-2 in shots on goal and control the tempo of play, while Connor McMichael opened the scoring to give D.C. the lead just 5:09 minutes in.

However, things would quickly change when the Rangers evened the score early on a deflection in front, and from there, New York would steal back momentum.

Washington, meanwhile, was out of sorts, and a lack of structure and mistakes led to goals for New York. Mika Zibanejad got away from everyone on the power play to put his Rangers in front, and then, Jack Roslovic separated himself and fired a shot shortside past Charlie Lindgren to make it a 3-2 game.

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Then, in the second, with Washington on the power play, Alex Ovechkin fumbled the puck and gave up the puck on an ugly turnover, leading to a break for the Rangers. From there, a picture-perfect passing play would ensure, and K'Andre Miller would drive to the net and go unbothered to finish it off and make it a 4-2 game.

Lindgren did what he could and stopped 23 of 27 shots (.852 save percentage) in the defeat.

Tom Wilson Helps Spark Capitals, Offense Improves But Still Needs Work

Tom Wilson has provided the spark that D.C. has needed so far in this series on offense, and on Tuesday, he was the story as he helped spark the power play and get the Capitals two critical goals on the man advantage.

In the second with his team trailing, Wilson got the puck to the front and fed the crease, where Dylan Strome redirected the puck past Igor Shesterkin to even the score. Then, later in the third with his team down by two and needing momentum, Wilson deflected a point drive from Hendrix Lapierre past Shesterkin to pull his team within one.

Wilson leads Washington in scoring this series with three points.

Though the team was able to make a late push and generate some pressure and good chances with the goalie pulled late, the comeback effort proved futile as New York weathered the storm.

Overall, the Capitals' offense took a step forward and got more pucks on net, there is still work to be done, as D.C. needs to get more bodies and traffic to the front to beat Shesterkin. Power-play entries also proved to be an issue again.

Oshie Returns After Controversial High Hit By Panarin; Penalties & Non-Calls Costly

Washington also dealt with an injury scare late on a questionable hit, as T.J. Oshie went down after being struck in the head by Artemi Panarin, who backed into him to deliver a check.

There was a review for a major penalty, which could have sparked the game in D.C.'s favor, but after review, the officials deemed that the point of contact for Panarin was Oshie's chest, so there was no call. McMichael received a roughing minor for sticking up for 77 and going after Panarin following the hit.

Related: Oshie Returns To Capitals-Rangers After Taking Hit To Head From Panarin; No Penalty On Play For NYR

Oshie left the game shortly after being pulled by a concussion spotter, but returned to the ice surface late in the third and finished the game.

Washington is already without three defensemen due to hits, as Rasmus Sandin, Nick Jensen and Vincent Iorio are all recovering from upper-body ailments resulting from checks.