After the game Coach Boudreau wasn't afraid to point out the problems. "We were having a devil of a time handling the puck, shooting the puck, doing anything. And we weren't doing anything right after that, or even during that." When asked if the guys looked a little slow out there, he agreed. "Quite frankly, it was the least energy that I think we've had all year...we had to have a lot of energy...I don't know what it was, I have no idea." He called out Steckel for making the bad pass across the zone that nicked Alzner's skate and went into his own net. He also noted that while Theodore didn't play well, he didn't play worse than a lot of other players, "but because he's the last line of defense, everybody sees it."
It's clear that the injuries are hurting the Caps. You could see that the defense wasn't communicating well, and there were forced passes and missed assignments. To be honest a couple more crisp passes and the Panthers could have had 2 or 3 more goals. The Caps need to get the D together and work with them tomorrow in practice, and figure out a way to get them to play better.
When I asked Boudreau about the fact that this has been the second game recently where the Caps have scored a couple quick goals late to come close (Minnesota being the other), he admitted that it was just too little too late. "Anybody can make it close and play hard for 7 minutes, but it wasn't a close game. They were dominating us to the point where you're undefeated at home and you're being booed, which probably was rightfully deserved."
