Maybe the Caps are just wearing down. The physical investment hasn't really been there compared to the Islanders series and it was in Game 5 of that series that the Islanders slipped. Hopefully that doesn't ultimately wind up being the case with the Caps. Not that this game was as decisive but territorially and from an overall possession standpoint this seemed like their worst game. They were openly relying on Holtby stealing it and just finding some way to win rather than go for it.
When it comes to possession there seems to be a 'fix it' approach and a lot left to individual freelancing beyond their very simplistic responsible structure. It's why there's ultimately so little cohesion. If the organization is going to take such a hands off approach to possession habits when they actually have the puck then they can't in good faith not change the players if their possession game ends up costing them.
Trotz says they haven't seen their best effort yet and they haven't but there's also a lot of longstanding poor execution that should come as no surprise to him.
The whole thing is self-perpetuating. Little offensive execution, sporadic forechecking pressure, no pressure in the neutral zone or at the blue line, Rags walk in and we chase pucks and block shots for 2 minutes at a time, we clear the zone and if we have possession we need a line change so we dump it in and forecheck with perhaps one guy, fatigue sets in, rinse and repeat.
The comparisons to the LA Kings style of play is laughable. The Kings were tough, yes, but they were also a much much better possession team. Even their less skilled players knew how to complete and handle a pass. I cannot remember a team in recent years with such poor passing win a Stanley Cup. Even Montreal in 2010 didn't get to the finals.
As for the defensive posture, that last goal was classic. There was no pick set. Long before the Ranger enters the zone with the picked off pass from Glencross, Gleason is back peddling. There must have been a good 10 feet of space he gave the Ranger. In the meantime, Glencross has a direct line to check the Ranger but instead plays in no-man's land, presumably to stop a pass. Either Glencross should have covered the 2nd Ranger, allowing Green to cover the 3rd, or Glencross hits the 1st Ranger and Gleason switches to cover the second guy in. This was the story of much of the game, except that we were blind lucky to survive it.
