WASHINGTON | There were no smiles in the opposing team’s locker room at Capital One Arena. When a team loses, it often does. But after a shameful 9-2 defeat, we could expect to see several baboons.
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Brendan Gallagher muttered in a corner of the locker room. Josh Anderson also had a very low tone of voice. And it was the same story with Cole Caufield, the author of the two goals for his team.
“It hurts, you don’t want to experience such a result,” Caufield said. But we will learn from this defeat. We have to get through this as a team. We will need to forget it quickly. It’s the NHL, there’s always another day and you can’t mope about the past. »
“In the third period, we made several mistakes, continued the left winger. It’s a 9-2 loss. There were some bad plays. We will watch videos. »
frustration
In the category of bad plays, there was one where Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov circled in offensive territory for long seconds. They looked like two teenagers at the local rink playing eight-year-olds. Johansson ended that streak by scoring his 10th goal of the season.
“No, we haven’t stopped playing in the third, defended Gallagher. It’s difficult when you play such a game. Frustration can overwhelm you. As soon as you let frustration get into your game, you start making mental mistakes. We were playing against a good team. »
“I feel bad for Jackie (Jake Allen), chained number 11. He was fighting in front of the net. You’re never as good as you think when you win games and you’re never as bad as you think when you lose games. »
Flowers in Ovechkin
Caufield got his smile back to talk about Alex Ovechkin. The Capitals captain scored the 30th hat trick of his career.
” It’s cool. We are all supporters of this player, we encourage him. But it’s infuriating when he does it against your team. Ovechkin is truly a special player. »
The look of a referee
Gallagher received a misconduct penalty on the face-off following Johansson’s goal in the third. The right winger found himself alongside Ovechkin. However, he did not garland Ovechkin, but the referee (Frédérick L’Écuyer).
“To be honest, I’ve said much worse things,” Gallagher said. I spoke to the referee, it was not against Ovechkin. He stared at me. I told him not to look at me and that he was waiting for me to reply. At that time, he gave me a punishment. I didn’t like that. »