Not a good night at Verizon Center after a 4-3 Rangers’ win. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau had some strong words for his players during the postgame press conference. When asked if his offensively-gifted team allows that skill to get in the way of their committment at the other end of the ice, Boudreau reacted.
“It shouldn’t. Because that’s all we talk about. We don’t talk about offense. We talk about defense. And play without the puck. And the guys that are making mistakes are not first year guys. They’re guys that have been in the league 10 years – [or] five years, six years. And it’s been what they’re jobs are. They know what they’re jobs are and we’ve just got to go do it. And as far as the defense goes – there’s not one first-year guy on defense. These guys have all been around. Who’s the youngest? [Jeff] Schultz? It’s his fourth year in the NHL. These guys should know what they hell they’re doing. Right now we’re not playing good enough.”
Can’t argue with any of that. The Caps “just kind of flaked out”, according to forward Mike Knuble. They took the lead on a power-play goal by Nicklas Backstrom and within 18 seconds were tied again at 3. More frustrating for the players is that just a week ago against Boston they played a complete game – the kind that gets a team wins during the postseason. None of that happened on Thursday.
