"Kind of took our foot off the pedal a little bit," said Tyson Jost. "When you're playing a good team like Washington, they're going to respond and they're going to capitalize on those opportunities that you give them."
The Avalanche continues its road heavy schedule this week with three games against the Pacific Division, beginning Sunday at the Anaheim Ducks. The team will play at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday and then at the Arizona Coyotes on Friday in the first half of a back-to-back.
The trip ends a stretch that has Colorado playing 14-of-20 outings on the road (Oct. 9 to Nov. 23).
"I think the last little stretch here, we haven't played our best hockey," said Jost. "We want to regroup here. We had two really good games and then Washington we took a little break there. We want to get back to that against Anaheim and keep that rolling for the Cali and Arizona road trip."
Saturday's team activities began with a video session to discuss the game against the Capitals before the players hit the ice for a 35-minute practice at Family Sports Center.
"Last night for me wasn't all bad. I just think there were large portions of that game where we didn't play to our standard," said head coach Jared Bednar. "We didn't manage the puck enough and put it behind their D and working the forecheck. We didn't have an attack mentality as far as shooting the puck and getting it back and repeating that process."
The only active-roster players that didn't partake in Saturday's on-ice session were Matt Nieto (lower-body injury) and Colin Wilson, who was likely given a maintenance day.
Bednar said he liked the team's attitude for the day as they made final preparations for the road trip.
"I thought our guys were fantastic today. Came with a great attitude to work and get better," Bednar said. "They knew it wasn't going to be long, but there were some things in practice that we wanted to see… That is a good sign for me. We have two wins. We're 2-0-1, points in three straight games here. We should feel good about that. Now we're on the road for three and try and take six more points."
Bednar discussed one lineup note for the team's game at the Ducks, as goaltender Philipp Grubauer will make his second consecutive start in net. He stopped 26 shots against the Capitals.