Chalk another one in the "L" column.

Two home losses in five nights. Heck, the Capitals had only lost one regulation game at home all season up until this past weekend!

Tonight they were handed their third consecutive loss in an unenthusiastic performance against the Edmonton Oilers who will battle for a Western Conference playoff spot these next few months.

Tomorrow Washington is right back at it, heading to Pittsburgh to try to avoid their - collective gasp - fourth straight loss.

For head coach Bruce Boudreau, the effort presented by the Capitals these past few games has just not been up to snuff.

"It gets to the point where everybody wants to be the scorer but nobody wants to be the mucker and you're not going to do anything," Boudreau said. "Everybody's waiting for somebody else to do the work. They want to finish."

The fact of the matter is this losing streak is but a small blip in the standings, and has been a long time coming. One simply could not realistically expect the Capitals of continuing the torrent pace they were on, and seem to have crashed hard dating back to Friday. Their recent fall from grace as anointed darlings of the East seems to have proven unfavorable with the fan base.

But lets keep in mind that this team is more than capable of returning to the form they showed merely a week ago. One can only hope that coach Boudreau will have them ready to go tomorrow night, where they won't need much added inspiration while facing a long time foe in Pittsburgh.

Fans will just have to remain patient, and above all else - "Don't Stop Believin'"

Time Capsule: January 17th, 2008 : Washington Capitals vs Edmonton Oilers

Almost a year to the day (four days short), the Edmonton Oilers came to D.C. and took on the Capitals in what turned out to be an epic battle.

Edmonton took a 2-0 lead into the second, but Washington was able to rally, scoring four in the period and protecting a 4-3 lead going into the games final stanza.

Midway through the period, Shawn Horcoff scored his 21st goal of the year, and the game remained tied until the dreaded shootout.

It was tweleve rounds in that the Capitals found their hero - unlikely as he was - Matt Bradley hoped over the boards on a whim and put a backhand shot passed the blocker of Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

"He just said, 'I'm going to score, put me out there,' and he jumped over the board and he went in," Boudreau said. "He told me, he didn't ask."

Washington will look to break a two game losing streak as the Oilers return to the Verizon Center tomorrow night.