Via the team:
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on what prevented the Capitals from getting more shots on goal…
“Nothing out of the ordinary. I think the second period everybody lost their flow with the penalties. I thought we pushed pretty hard. They’ve got some good guys back there; they made some plays. We tried but just couldn’t penetrate.”
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on trying to sustain a two-goal lead tonight…
“The second goal at the end of the second I think hurt the most. We’re in great shape, we’re down behind their goal-line and they get one rush and put it in the net. That goal and the third goal, we made reads on the back-check, incorrect reads on the back-check, which by now we shouldn’t do.”
Washington Capitals center Brooks Laich on how he felt physically on the ice tonight…
“First three or four shifts were getting [my] legs under me. It’s been about a month since I’ve played. And then after that, as the game wore on. I actually felt a lot better.”
Washington Capitals center Brooks Laich on what the Capitals can do offensively…
“Stick to the game plan. First period I thought we looked pretty good, it was one of our better periods. We played downhill, we made it tough, we know that they are going to cheat, break out of our zone and we are going to get chances because of it. In the second period, we got away from our game plan. For whatever reason, we didn’t execute, we didn’t get pucks deep, we didn’t make them run and go it, we didn’t lean on them. They are on a road trip, we didn’t tire them out in the second and third period. Simple things we didn’t do cost us the hockey game.”
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom on how the Capitals played in the third…
“We have 20 more minutes we go to play. It was just a couple of mistakes that cost us the win. Overall, I thought we played alright. But, it’s hard to say that you played alright when you lose. That’s for sure. We have to find a way to win the next one.”
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom on the play of the Capitals in the third…
“They [the Anaheim Ducks] were aggressive. They were blocking a lot of shots, too. If you can’t get shots through, you need to get the puck deep again and cycle them through, so that’s something that maybe we need to work a little bit more on.”
Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau on how his team played after a rough start…
“I thought our guys were really good after the first 10 minutes. I think they were trying hard for the guys that were in Washington, and Bob [Woods] and myself, and I think they were a little nervous in the beginning but once we got our legs going, I thought we shut them down pretty good except for that almost goal there at the end.”
Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau on how satisfying this win was…
“In the scheme of things, I’m more happy we kept the streak alive. 59 points after 39 games is a pretty cool feat for what we’ve gone through. The players deserve all the credit, and it was nice in front of the crowd here. There was a lot of red out there.”
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm on his game-winning goal…
“The puck just bounced right to the middle, and I get the puck on my stick, and I just tried to make a quick move forward so I could get it to the net and I saw it went in. It’s a very good feeling…It’s a huge goal, and it’s fun for Bruce and those guys to win against their old team, so it’s just a blast. So we’re coming home and celebrating Christmas with a win and that’s great.”
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm on how the team is playing right now…
“We just find a way to win instead of finding a way to lose. We have a good team here and we know we can turn around a game. We just believe in the way Bruce wants us to play, and we go out there and do it.”
Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller on the Alex Ovechkin no goal…
“I saw the one replay they showed, and it looked like it was in on that one, but at the same time, looking at the crossbar, you can still see the mark kind of outside of the crossbar, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t a goal. In the end, it’s not on me to call, but it was definitely nice to get that break and I think, in the end, if you work hard, you deserve those kinds of bounces going your way, and I think that’s what we did, especially in the third [period].”
Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller on his team being on a roll…
“That’s our success right now; we don’t look back. We don’t stop playing our game even if we’re down a goal, two goals. We’re just trying to stay the course and play our game and I think that’s the strength right now and it’s great that it worked out again tonight.”