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After the Washington Capitals' 8-5 loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, but star Alex Ovechkin scored his 890th goal, bringing him within four of catching Wayne Gretzky and becoming the NHL's all-time leader.
The loss stuck out in Ovechkin's mind more than the goal that brought him closer to history.
“We lost three in a row and maybe it’s a good thing it’s happening right now and not in the playoffs,” said Ovechkin via NHL.com. “But we just have to bounce back, and we just have to find our way to win the games.”
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery knows the team needs to regain its focus.
“Guys are trying and there’s effort stuff involved, but at the end of the day, you have to be able to just play direct and play our style and we fail to do that against this team consistently, which ultimately falls on me,” Carbery said. “And that’s why I have to change things and make some decisions to move guys around to try to get something on track for our group.”
The Capitals return to action on Tuesday night for a road matchup against the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
New Capitals player ok with criticism
Ryan Leonard, who is set to join the Washington Capitals soon, has no problem being the bad guy. After serving as Team USA's captain at the World Juniors, he understands he will attract negative attention from the fans of rival teams.
“You hear the boos and it kinda just made me smile, honestly,” Leonard said. “It's cool to be hated.”
Leonard’s coach David Carle had many positive things to say about his game and how it has developed.
“To me, the sequence in the third where he gets knocked to the ice and just skates away, that's growth from him; his discipline, his maturity,” said Carle. “He's an emotional guy and our team rallies around that, but it wasn't the time and place to engage. So that's been fun to watch as a coach, his growth and maturity. You're seeing his game continue to blossom, but you're seeing the person on the ice being in more control and that's nice to see. It bodes well for his future.”
Additionally, Leonard has left a positive mark on his teammates.
“He's a great player and everybody's going after him,” James Hagens said. “He's our leader, so you learn from him and how he battles through everything. You see what he goes through and how he's still ready to go out the next shift. So it helps you understand that you can never take a shift off and that you play for the guy next to you.”
Hagens is looking to be a contributor for the Capitals for years to come.
