LIVE REACTION: Capitals Locker Room Talks Win Over Flames

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals got huge games from Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie and Darcy Kuemper en route to a 3-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Friday.

Washington now has wins in back-to-back games, and it’s a good sign as the Capitals prepare for a six-game road trip. There was a lot to take away from the victory, from Ovechkin and Oshie’s surge on offense to Kuemper’s fourth career shutout vs. Calgary.

Here’s what the room had to say about the win.

Alex Ovechkin

On kicking the puck to himself before his goal: “That’s why we play soccer before game, you know?”

On having his son in the stands watching: “It’s always fun when your family here and watch you play. Obviously, to see him out there close to the ice, it as a special moment.”

On Capitals confidence: “When you win, you always have confidence. Sometimes you play well, but you can’t win the game, and that frustrating a little bit. But the situation right now, we just have to collect the points. It doesn’t matter how — lucky, bad bounce — we just have to collect the points and try to get as many as possible.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov

On his goal: “There was nothing there so that was pretty lucky that the pad wasn’t on the ice.”

On Washington getting the win before a six-game road trip: “Yeah in the back to back situation you want to get as much possible points and in the first game, especially home, we haven’t been great home yet but today was a pretty good win and we have to wear the black jerseys all the time. Fans get loud and we look much bigger and faster in those jerseys.”

On having T.J. Oshie back: “Just nice to have a guy that not afraid to make a play and if not gonna work out he’s not afraid to make another one after that. You have to have lots of games behind your back to be able to execute and make some plays and not afraid to make mistakes because like I said, it’s nice to be on the forecheck but sometimes we have to make plays.”

T.J. Oshie

On the Washington second line and the Capitals chemistry: “I think we’re just reading off each other really well. I’ve played with Kuz quite a bit. Sometimes we haven’t connected as much as it gets frustrating and right now, we’re really looking for each other, I think. It’s just fun hockey when you’ve got guys that are kind of thinking the same way you are. And obviosuly, I haven’t played with Sonny, I haven’t really hung out with him yet, just because I’ve been away from the squad. But it seems like there’s chemistry there right away, which is awesome. He works hard, he skates, it seems like he’s good at getting to open areas for us. I missed hima c ouple times, so I think we could have been even a little bit better. But it’s fun playing with those two guys right now.”

Darcy Kuemper

On why he always shuts out the Flames: “I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for that.”

On bouncing back after surrendering “bad goals” last game: “Tonight wasn’t about last game, it was about building off that win. We’ve been talking about stringing a few wins together so that was the focus tonight just to come in and kind of do my job and help the team the best I can.”