February 18 Rapid Reaction (feat. Alex Ovechkin): Capitals 3, Kings 2

Rapid Reaction, feat. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals

Post-game Quotes

Willie Desjardins, on whether it was “deflating” allowing two goals in 20 seconds:
Well, it’s tough. I thought we did start well. I thought we played pretty good throughout the game, but they have a good power play. They just capitalized on two power plays, and that was the difference, and then they got the tip. We had stuff going to the net – we could’ve had our tips, we just didn’t get ‘em tonight.

Desjardins, on whether Alex Ovechkin is “unstoppable” when afforded time and space:
Well, he is hard. He shoots the puck well and if he hits it right, it’s going to go in. He got all of it a couple times and he made good shots.

Desjardins, on whether it was a difficult match-up for Jack Campbell:
Yeah, for sure, but he’s faced that before. Jack’s a good goaltender. Ovechkin, however many he’s got, 40-something this year, he can shoot the puck, so it doesn’t matter who’s in net, but he can score.

Desjardins, on whether Jonathan Quick could’ve started, or whether he was at the “tail end of the bug”:
He’s at the tail end of it. There was no reason. Jack’s playing good, too. He was good enough to back up but probably not ready to start.

Jack Campbell, on taking “bullets” from Ovechkin:
When they’re on the power play and we’re on the penalty kill, those are the shots that I’m supposed to take so those are just two saves I expect myself to make. It doesn’t matter who’s in that spot. It’s just not acceptable.

Campbell, on Ovechkin’s ability to score from the faceoff dot:
I mean he’s a special player, but I still expect myself to save them every time. Like, you know, when we drop to penalty kill, that’s my one shot that I’m supposed to have. I’ve got to have it, so there’s no excuse.

Campbell, on Ovechkin’s second goal:
The second one went right between my legs, so yeah, I wasn’t happy about either one.

Campbell, on getting back-to-back starts for the first time since November:
It’s nice to get the opportunity to play. It’s all about winning right now though, so not acceptable to not get any points in the last two games, so I feel like I just need to make some more saves and we’ll get the job done.

Alex Iafallo, on his goal off of Brown’s feed:
Just talking out there and making sure we’re on the same page. For that goal I just really had to drive the net and touch it and he made a great play. I’ve just got to drive the net more and get those chances.

Iafallo, on recovering from tonight’s loss:
Very emotional, but we’ve got to stick together and in times like this we’ve got to stick together and keep striving to get better as a team and individually we’ve got to get better every day. That goes a long way and staying positive.

Iafallo, on decreasing the deficit to one goal:
We ran out of time and it sucks and you hate to lose. You want to win those games and got to have a full 60 minutes there. But the comeback, that’s pulling the goalie at the end, that’s what we were trying to do was just get pucks to the net and fortunately one went in, but we came up short.

Iafallo, on Ovechkin’s ability to score on the power play:
Obviously his shot from the side there is pretty stellar, so we’re trying to take that lane away, but obviously it’s going to get over there at some point. Yeah, that’s a tough goal.

Iafallo, on how critical each loss is at this point in the season:
They’re huge and we come to the rink every day trying to get those points and striving to win, but we don’t get them, so it’s an emotional toll on us, but at the end of the day we’ve got to stick together and make sure we come to the rink every day preparing to win the next game.

Iafallo, on whether he is happy with his game compared to this point last season:
Oh yeah, always getting better. I’m just trying sure I’m getting to the net more. Always pretty easy playing with those guys, I just have to drive the net and put it in like that play there. I’m just going to keep trying to get to those areas and keep trying to help the team produce and get some wins here.

Iafallo, on the team getting a day off yesterday:
It’s just how it goes. At this point in the season sometimes you’ve got to rest, sometimes you’ve got to go in. I’m still learning as I’m going, so things like that, you’ve just got to keep your head on straight and stick to your own routine.

Austin Wagner, on the last few games feeling different than the most recent road trip:
Yeah, I don’t know what to say to that. Just got to figure things out I guess. We’re back on the road this week, so we’ve got to find our groove this week and then bring it back home again.

Post-game Notes

–With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 60-37-15 all-time against Washington, a record that includes a home mark of 35-15-7. Prior to Monday’s loss, the Kings had won eight straight home games in the series, dating back to a 3-2 loss at Staples Center on December 14, 2005. Los Angeles was swept in a season series of at least two games by Washington for the first time since 1993-94 and for only the fourth time since the Capitals entered the league in 1974-75.

–With the loss, the Kings fell to 9-15-3 against the Eastern Conference, 7-7-1 against the Metropolitan Division, 11-5-6 in one-goal games, 7-26-5 when their opponent scores first, 3-18-2 when trailing after one period, 1-24-1 when trailing after two periods and 9-12-2 when outshooting their opponent.

–Since killing off 13 consecutive power plays, Los Angeles’ penalty kill is 6-for-11.

–With two power play goals, leading NHL goal scorer Alex Ovechkin has 42 goals in 59 games, putting him on pace for 57 goals this season. He’s reached 57 goals once, scoring 65 in 2007-08. In 19 career games against the Kings, he has eight goals and 18 points.

–By assisting on Alex Iafallo’s goal, Dustin Brown (0-1=1) registered his 600th NHL point. He is the eighth player in Los Angeles history to reach the 600 points with the team (also Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille, Dave Taylor, Wayne Gretzky, Anze Kopitar, Bernie Nicholls, Butch Goring).

–Brown, who scored eight goals in his first 15 games, has four in his last 34. His last five-on-five goal was scored on December 27, a span of 22 games.

–With his third period goal, Alex Iafallo reached 26 points on the season (13-13=26), surpassing his career-high of 25 (9-16=25), set in his rookie season last year.

–The Kings attempted 55 shots (28 on goal, 16 blocked, 11 missed). The Capitals attempted 37 shots (21 on goal, 6 blocked, 10 missed). Alex Iafallo finished with a game-high four shots on goal.

–Los Angeles won 27-of-40 faceoffs (68%). Adrian Kempe won 2-of-6, Anze Kopitar won 14-of-18, Trevor Lewis won 5-of-5 and Jeff Carter won 6-of-11.

Tuesday, February 19 is a scheduled off-day for the team. The Kings’ next practice is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 20 in advance of the team’s flight to Nashville.

Post-game Highlights

–Lead photo via Adam Pantozzi/NHLI