On Sunday, Washington Capitals forward Jakub Vrana spoke to the media following today’s optional skate and discussed playing through the recent absences of players and why the defense has been active in the offensive zone this season.
On goaltender and fellow Czech mate Vitek Vanecek, Vrana said he “has been great” and has “shown his performance”. “He’s been a big piece of us winning the games…big saves and important moments out there.”
“They have a good team,” Vrana said on facing the Boston Bruins on Monday night and six more times later this season, “We’re going to respect that but at the same time, we’re trying to focus on our team the most.” He mentioned that it “really doesn’t matter who we play against, we want to go out there and win.”
Vrana said that even though the challenges and absences of players, the team is taking it “day-from-day”. He said, “You can’t get too high or too low. You’re going to stay in your lane and work on things every day.” Vrana added the Capitals “focus on things we do wrong out there and learn from those” mistakes during games, but recognize the good moments and plays.
The defense has been very active in the offensive zone this season. Vrana mentioned they “rotate and move” around the net to achieve rebound or tip-in goals. “We use all five guys…we’ve been creating a lot of offense by doing that…score some big goals like that and it’s been working.” He said that has been the focus during practices as they try to “bring it to the games.”
By Della Young
