” Certainly theres a possibility it is,” stated the goaltender, whose group meekly left the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-0 loss to the Islanders on Thursday night, as New York removed the Caps in five video games. They were the NHLs second-best offending team in the regular season with a 3.42 goals-per-game average, but they handled simply 1.63 goals per game in eight postseason games, consisting of 8 objectives in five games against the Islanders stifling protective system.
” For whatever factor, throughout our time in Toronto, our team wasnt able to psychologically and physically get to our video game for long enough. We had one video game where we did it,” Reirden said. Norris Trophy-nominated defenseman John Carlson was hurt in the groups exhibit video game against Carolina and missed the round-robin games, though he played against the Islanders.
” Obviously Im never ever going to make an excuse,” Reirden said. “Its frustrating. … We go through a great deal of the season injury-free and then come up with some here once we showed up in Toronto and some prior to we even returned from the start of the time out, two crucial pieces. But thats our responsibility for individuals to take advantage of those circumstances, benefit from that chance, and we didnt do it.”
Holtby is one of the teams couple of totally free representatives this offseason. The Capitals have 16 gamers under contract for next season, many on long-lasting contracts. Their core is growing older, but Backstrom stated he believes they “definitely” have more Stanley Cup runs left in them.
No one believed we might win that year,” he said. “We have it as an objective in our group to get much better and win more championships.”
Braden Holtby may have played his last game with the Washington Capitals.
” Certainly theres a chance it is,” said the goaltender, whose group meekly left the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-0 loss to the Islanders on Thursday night, as New York removed the Caps in 5 games. “But who understands? You live one day at a time.”
Holtby, who backstopped Washington to the very first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history in 2018, is an unlimited complimentary representative. He shared the crease this season with 22-year-old Ilya Samsonov, who is thought about the Capitals goalie of the future.
” Im disappointed. We had more to offer and we didnt discover a way to do that,” the 30-year-old Holtby stated. “This one is going to sting a bit.”
Washingtons defeat at the hands of the Islanders stings on a few levels. The Capitals were the favorites entering the series, having ended up 10 points better than New York in the regular season. They were the NHLs second-best offending team in the routine season with a 3.42 goals-per-game average, but they handled just 1.63 objectives per game in eight postseason games, including 8 objectives in 5 video games versus the Islanders suppressing defensive system.
The coach behind that system is Barry Trotz, who led the Capitals to the Stanley Cup in 2018 but divided with the group in a contract dispute after the season before signing on with the Islanders.
Holtby had a discussion with his previous coach in the post-series handshake line with the Islanders.
” We had a lot of success when he was here. I just want him the finest, due to the fact that hes one of the good people in hockey,” Holtby said.
Todd Reirden replaced Trotz as coach and has lagged the bench for two successive first-round series losses. He said the five-game loss to the Islanders the was “not acceptable for our company,” and that while the group has continued its run of regular-season success, “in these playoff circumstances, weve been unable to play our best hockey.”
Reirden kept in mind that last seasons removal at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes differed from this loss to the Islanders due to the fact that the postseason was held in a neutral-site “center” city in Toronto, after a monthslong break in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
” For whatever factor, during our time in Toronto, our team wasnt able to psychologically and physically get to our game for long enough. We had one video game where we did it,” Reirden said. “That will be something that well be reassessing.”
Reirden himself could be reassessed.
” Thats part of the job. Its not something I enter into every day thinking of. I go into it with a plan on how to make our group better and to enhance our players and do it with passion, work and pride ethic,” he stated. “Im confident that Im a young coach that continues to improve and continues to get much better, and have been able to find success in the routine season, and have not had the ability to discover it in 2 entirely various circumstances in the playoffs. I dont have all the answers right now. Well get a long time away and take a look at and dissect why it happened.”
The Capitals dealt with some injury difficulty in the series, losing star center Nicklas Backstrom to a concussion for three video games. Norris Trophy-nominated defenseman John Carlson was hurt in the groups exhibit game versus Carolina and missed the round-robin games, though he played versus the Islanders. Samsonov was hurt throughout the season pause and did not accompany the group to the bubble.
