The Washington Capitals have yet to get over the disappointment of falling short in the Stanley Cup Playoffs again last season and a summer of roster turnover that followed. Coach Barry Trotz believes that's why the Capitals have struggled in the preseason; they are 1-5-0 and have scored eight goals entering their last game at the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
"If you talk to players, it's been a little bit harder to get the energy this year based on how it ended and the summer," Trotz said Saturday. "So in some ways, in lack of another way to say it, we got stuck in last year's energy or lack of at the end. It took a piece of us, and now we've got to dust ourselves off here and go 'Hey, you know what? It's for real. Let's get going. We're professional. Let's quit with the self-pity and all that. Whatever's holding us back, let's go play because we can play.'"
The Capitals open the regular season against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, CSN-DC, NHL.TV).
The Capitals believed they had their best chance to win the Stanley Cup last season after winning the Presidents' Trophy for the second season in a row, but they again lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Second Round. In the offseason, they lost defensemen Karl Alzner (signed with the Montreal Canadiens), Kevin Shattenkirk (signed with the New York Rangers) and Nate Schmidt (claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft) and forwards Justin Williams (signed with the Carolina Hurricanes) and Marcus Johansson (traded to the New Jersey Devils).
Through six preseason games, the Capitals have had trouble generating scoring chances while managing only three 5-on-5 goals. Trotz thought their effort was better in a 3-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, though they were limited to 19 shots on goal.
-- Tom Gulitti