Despite the renewed optimism, however, the on-ice fortunes quickly unraveled from October after Duncan Speirs, Taylor Stefishen and Julius Nyqvist were released by the club - quickly followed by Alexander Islamov - with the Capitals embarking on a desperate run of 13 consecutive defeats before their second league victory of the season arrived with a win against Coventry on 19 November 2017. To compound their predicament, the club suffered the added blow of losing top scorer Marek Tvrdoň who requested to be released owing to a family illness.