Laviolette, Oshie Dig In After Capitals’ 3rd Loss In 5 Games: ‘Not Good Enough’

Right now, the Washington Capitals know they’re not playing up to their standard, and saw that take place again in Ottawa.

Washington’s dominant start to Thursday’s tilt against the Senators evaporated after 20 minutes of play, as costly penalties, missed assignments and little offensive pressure resulted in a 5-2 Capitals loss, marking the team’s third defeat in five games.

“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times with the puck. In the first period we did exactly what we wanted to do… second period and third period, we played east-west hockey and didn’t deliver any pucks,” head coach Peter Laviolette said bluntly. “Not good enough.”

Laviolette also said Washington knows what it takes to win games. That wasn’t on display against Ottawa in the final two periods of play, and despite a strong performance from Darcy Kuemper, The Capitals were unable to match the Senators’ energy and physicality and were outplayed, which led to another loss in what’s been a lackluster start to the season.

“There were some things defensively that were simple breakdowns that shouldn’t happen,” Laviolette noted, also saying, “I mean, we know what we need to do to be successful. We didn’t do it in the second and third period.”

READ MORE ON WHN: Mistakes Prove Costly & More Takeaways From Washington Capitals’ Loss To Ottawa Senators

T.J. Oshie also didn’t hold back, saying that the second period, as well as his two penalties in that middle frame, “cost” the Capitals big time. However, Oshie also pointed out that the club stepped off the gas, which played another major role in the collapse against Ottawa where the team surrendered five unanswered goals.

“The first 20 we were chipping puck with speed… we were shooting and we were supporting each other and that kind of just went away,” Oshie said. “Maybe they tired us out or we got a little overconfident with the puck. Definitely the two penalties by me hurt us, and we just couldn’t come back on our feet.”

Washington will return to Capital One Arena on Saturday for a tilt with the Los Angeles Kings. Being shorthanded didn’t help, as Evgeny Kuznetsov, Connor Brown, Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom and Carl Hagelin‘s absences were all missing in a game that required hard hits, grit and a strong penalty kill. However, it’s nothing the team hasn’t seen before.

As Alex Ovechkin pointed out, every point matters right now, and the Capitals know they can be better. While it’s not exactly time to press the panic button, a strong start is crucial, and the team has to improve and stop the bleeding before things get out of control.