Entering this season, the new coaching regime placed an emphasis on unshackling the Capitals, stressing a total team presence into the offensive zone and putting pressure on the opposition.

“I think, for me, just the visual of, no matter what zone you’re in the ice, there’s five guys you see with red jerseys. To me, that’s good 200-foot hockey,” Coach Barry Trotz said. “You’re playing in all three zones as a group of five.”

With that aggressiveness, however, comes a demand for responsibility, a resistance to in-the-moment zeal necessary to avoid neutral-zone turnovers and the dangerous situations that follow. An active blue line can overmatch opponents and extend possessions. It also can hamstring a goaltender if no one pays mind to what’s behind.

“That’s kind of the hard part, find yourself getting a little too aggressive at times,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “It’s about making the right reads, making them quick, because it happened to us in exhibition a couple times, where you really want to go and you think you might have a chance to keep the play alive, but you don’t necessarily have the guys back or make your decision too slow. A little patience, a little bit of a good read and reacting.”

That patience, Trotz said, hinges on situations. Playing from behind might demand more risks, more pinching along the boards to keep possession. Gaining a lead might mean more conservative play and fewer breakouts to avoid allowing a game-changer.

“It’s the reads,” Trotz said. “It’s reading positionally where your forwards are at. It’s ice hockey, and you just have to react to it. The more reps you get, the better you become at it. You’ve got to realize, the moment that you’re in and the situation you’re in and the situation in the game.”

The risk-reward nature of employing this style while still teaching it reared its heads over Washington’s past two games. Alex Ovechkin’s even-strength goal at Boston began because Alzner pinched down and kept the possession alive. Under former coach Adam Oates, Alzner likely would have began backpedaling to jump onto defense sooner. Under Trotz and defensive assistant Todd Reirden, Alzner dove into the corner, Ovechkin covered the middle of the ice then careened toward the net once the puck had been recovered.

But San Jose’s third goal, as Puck Daddy’s Jen LC did a solid job detailing, happened in part because John Carlson overcommitted as Brooks Orpik moved the puck ahead, without anyone back to safeguard against a turnover.

Looking at the Scott goal last night, it's not just Orpik that got burned on the turnover.

Sharks had 1-3-1 forecheck in the neutral zone. — Jen LC (@RegressedPDO) October 15, 2014

With heavy pressure and during a transition, Carlson has to read that as D2 and drop back to cover low since Orpik is the puck mover (D1) — Jen LC (@RegressedPDO) October 15, 2014

If Carlson does that, instead of joining the rush up the ice, there's a Dman present to contest Scott's shot. pic.twitter.com/xzytQu1jES — Jen LC (@RegressedPDO) October 15, 2014

(h/t to Rob Parker of Japer’s Rink for clarifying that the D2 listed above is Evgeny Kuznetsov and not Carlson, who was already at the red line waiting for a pass. Still, someone’s out of position, where no one can recover.)

Had Orpik’s pass not sailed past Evgeny Kuznetsov and onto the stick blade of a counter-rushing Shark, Carlson’s positioning would have been moot. But with aggressiveness comes the responsibility to avoid mistakes that turn a simple breakout into a back-breaking goal.

“We were a little slow through the middle of the ice,” Alzner said. “We want to force teams to make a good play. If they make a good play on us, then good for them .We don’t want to have an easy one. A couple plays out there, we were a little slow to make our decision but also to come over top and protect the middle. Huge mix of things. That hurt is. Overall I think two periods of pretty good hockey.”