The Washington Capitals’ 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night marked their fifth consecutive defeat and pushed the team into a more desperate position as the 2022-23 season continues to progress.
The loss to the visiting Red Wings pushed the Caps to the fifth spot in the hunt for one of the Eastern Conference’s two Wild Card playoff positions. The club sits three points behind the Florida Panthers for the second and final spot for the postseason.
“You know I think the guys realize it was an important game last night”, said Head Coach Peter Laviolette of the team feeling the pressure of falling out of a possible postseason berth, “The two games before the [Stadium Series game] they were important games.”
“You don’t have to be that smart to see the standings and where everything sits, and that was the same four games ago.” Laviolette doubled down on the approach to remaining scheduled contests, the urgency obvious in the bench boss’ tone.
“We haven’t improved ourselves at all and that still holds true. Last night was important, tomorrow night is important. I think everyone understands that, that we need to win hockey games.”
The return of captain Alex Ovechkin to MedStar Capitals Iceplex following the death of his father Mikhail was a welcome one to the sixth-place team in the Metropolitan Division, with the 2004 first overall pick having his own wave of emotions as he took to the ice for the first time in over a week.
“…He landed, he came in, wanted to be at the rink today. Just a quick conversation with him and I’ll chat with him after he gets off the ice”, said Laviolette, who has coached the Caps’ captain for the past three seasons.
“He’s the captain of the team, he’s our leading scorer, helps in a lot of different areas”, Laviolette said of Ovechkin’s return to a struggling lineup, “Offensively, power play, leadership, size, physicality, presence, so there’s a lot of different things Alex brings to the table. I’m glad he was able to get home to be with his family, but we’re certainly glad to have him back.”
While Ovechkin may have not seen game action in a week’s time, Laviolette indicated he feels as though the 37-year old is in a good place in spite of his difficult week.
“He seemed like he was in good spirits based on what’s happened in his life, he seems like he came back, he’s excited to be here with his teammates, loves the game of hockey.” Laviolette continued, “We’ll have conversations when he gets off the ice, and see where he’s at, but the fact he’s out here, he came right from the plane and customs right into here to skate…that tells me his mind’s ready to go…”
The longtime NHL bench boss summed up Ovechkin’s impact in a few short words.
“He’s a big part of the team…it’s his love of the game that shines through in the locker room, it’s a big body, and a big presence coming back into our lineup so we’re certainly happy to have him back.”
Laviolette also gave a brief update on forward Anthony Mantha, who was injured during last night’s contest against Detroit.
“He’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.”
By Michael Fleetwood