Ok, so it has happened. The tables have turned slightly, and the Washington Capitals have just conceded their first loss to the Montreal Canadiens. And though the Capitals were going strong off of Alex Ovechkin’s recent record break and looking pretty good, they did expose some strengths and weaknesses in the third period of game two against the Canadiens. Coach Spencer Carbery even commented on this by praising Logan Thompson, who had to make 14 saves in that period alone, saying, “I thought he was the difference tonight, in the third.” However, Washington’s former coach, Bruce Boudreau, had some slightly more positive thoughts on the same.
In a recent interview with The Hockey News, Boudreau commended the Caps performance, saying, “I do a lot of the Caps games — I mean the pre- and post-game shows — so I get a chance to see them a lot. And the one thing about them is they do this better than any team I’ve seen: if another team scores, they get up and they come right at you.” Clearly Boudreau was referring to game 2, wherein the Capitals responded aggressively to Christian Dvorak’s goal, with a goal each for Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome within the span of a minute! Boudreau went on to add, “They’re big, they’re strong, and they’re missing two players right now. I don’t know when Protas is going to play, but at 6’6″ and 230 pounds, he’s going to be another imposing guy, especially against Montreal, who are a relatively small team compared to others in the NHL.” Clearly building up his former team, Boudreau didn’t fail to mention, though, what Carbery said in that harsh postgame interview: if it wasn’t for Logan Thompson in that third period, who knows what would’ve happened?
Well, now we know what would’ve happened, and though Boudreau has the advantage of distance being the Capitals’ former coach, current coach Carbery had some very different words for his team after their recent 6-3 loss to the Canadiens, which, in some way, was predicted by both coaches in their own good cop-bad cop kind of ways.
Following ex coach’s high praise Spencer Carbery doesn’t spare Capitals the harsh criticism
Current coaches and former coaches are akin to parents and grandparents when raising their kids; the grandparents are always the favorites because they are a little less harsh. Similarly, when the Capitals conceded their first loss of the series to the Canadiens in the electric and very pro-Habs atmosphere of the Bell Centre just now, Carbery didn’t beat around the bush. “I thought we weren’t very good with the puck, so I think it’s firmness,” he said in a post-game interview, adding, “I think it’s a little bit of nerves, and I think it’s a little bit of poise in that environment. Whether you’re on the wall, whether you’re through the neutral zone and the offensive zone, coughed up a lot of pucks in a lot of different areas.” It’s true, the Capitals failed to keep their cool in a challenging environment, and on top of that, both coaches also sort of predicted their ultimate weak point: Logan Thompson, and not necessarily his loss to injury.
As if it was bad juju or something, Dylan Strome fell on top of Logan Thompson, injuring him (again, he just came back from injury three weeks ago) and sending him off the ice. However, it was before the injury that Thompson conceded 5 goals of 35 shots. Charlie Lindgren, who came in to replace him, only conceded 1 of 5 on the other hand!
Either way, the Capitals have hopefully learned their lesson at the Bell Centre and will figure out a way to hold their own when the next game comes around, as long as Charlie Lindgren can hold it down while Thompson recovers, because, as Spencer Carbery alluded, no more pucks can be coughed up!
The next 48 hours will tell if the Caps can regroup — or if Montreal smells blood.
The post Ex-Washington Coach Sends Strong Message Amidst Spencer Carbery’s Harsh Words to Capitals appeared first on EssentiallySports.