Via the Caps, post-game quotes following their 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh:
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on Braden Holtby’s performance…
“There was a time when I thought about pulling him, but you know what, the guy’s been very good for this franchise the last year and I thought he earned the right to stay in there and fight through it…and he had a really good third period.”
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on how the team is playing as a group…
“We made a couple of mistakes but other than that I thought we played a good solid hockey game. There are things we can do better, and we’ll address that. But I don’t look at the game as one that got away from us because we weren’t playing well.”
Washington Capitals Forward Troy Brouwer on the shots and scoring chances of the Capitals…
“We needed more bodies around the net. We didn’t have very many second opportunities. It was one and done.”
Washington Capitals Defenseman John Carlson on the play of the Capitals…
“No one plays a perfect game, especially against these guys. They have great players and they are going to make you pay. If we stick to what we have been taught, it clearly works.”
Washington Capitals Defenseman John Carlson on the frustration of the loss…
“I think it’s deflating overall when you go into a hole and then you start playing well and you see what you can do out there and we just didn’t do it the whole game. That’s been our downfall, I think. We’ve had stretches of great hockey and obviously we need to work on that.”
Washington Capitals forward Wojtek Wolski on where the Capitals need to work…
“We get a lot of chances and create a lot of offense but we need to just put the puck in the net. That’s the biggest thing. When we do get those opportunities, there are chances to change the game, change the momentum, we haven’t capitalized.”
Washington Capitals forward Wojtek Wolski on if this game was a good test for the team…
“We aren’t looking for tests. We’re looking for wins and focusing on our game and focusing on what we have to do. I think we are doing that. We are creating chances and playing well in the neutral zone, but it seems like we have little breakdowns, three, four, five minutes at a time and it sets us back.”
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma on how Penguins forward Chris Kunitz responded after being sick recently…
“Guys were saying after the game it was because he got some rest and didn’t have to practice. I think being the recipient of two power play goals, I thought were really big for us considering we got a bad bounce there [on John Carlson’s goal] and things turned a little bit. We had to make a penalty kill and came back with [Chris Kunitz’s] power play goal.”
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma on becoming a better team after a rough first few games…
“You have to build and we weren’t where we wanted to be at all for the better part of the first six games and having one good game, or winning at Madison Square Garden, or winning at home, or coming in here and winning doesn’t mean we’re a great team, or that we’re going to win hockey games; we have to build. We’ve had some great games, some good games and again, we followed it up with a road victory. This is a tough place to play.”
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz on the team coming up with a big road victory after a tough start to the season…
“We played well to start the season then we didn’t have a good stretch of games. We’re trying to build a new identity and that’s being able to play sixty minutes games, trying to keep doing the same things the first shift and into the fifth shift into the third period. I think we’ve done a great job at building on that and everyone is believing in that, and that’s what giving us success.”
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz on fighting through his own struggles to come up with a big game…
“I’m just trying to put the puck on net and I’ve been fighting it for a few games too. You try to change some things and make sure you get in better areas on the ice and just luckily, a couple of them went in tonight.”
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby on the odd feel to the game…
“It was kind of a weird game, it felt like there were points where really nothing much happening, some icings and kind of a slow game. Then, it seemed like we traded chances and one team would have momentum. It was just a weird game maybe because it was the first real early one we’ve had or because we’ve played a lot of hockey. It was not a typical game but it’s nice to see us capitalize on the chances we got.”
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby on the Caps still being a dangerous team…
“[The Capitals] are a dangerous hockey team – they showed that today. They created a lot of chances and we definitely at certain points had to play good defense but I think that’s kind of the make-up of their team. You expect that they’re going to create a lot of opportunities.”