The dressing room had already emptied when the doors opened and reporters stormed in, searching for answers after the Washington Capitals’ debacle Wednesday night. Only Braden Holtby sat at his stall, baseball cap pulled low and talking with goaltending coach Mitch Korn, reviewing the scraps from a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders in Game 1. Soon, slowly and painfully, other players arrived to offer their explanations.
“The result is that we look like a slow team,” forward Brooks Laich said. “It has to get better.”
“If we turn the puck over against them, they’re really good in transition and they made us pay a few times,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said.