The Washington Capitals lost to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday in Dale Hunter's first game as coach of his former team. The defense played well enough to win, but the offense just wasn't there. Here is some reaction from Hunter, via CSN Washington.
Here is a transcription of some of his comments:
Well, definitely, it happens with transition. They don't got it down pat yet, but I think they got better as the game went on and they competed real hard. That's the most important thing, and that's what you need to win.
You play in your own end too much, we gotta be good defensively so we can be good offensively. Get the odd man rushes and let them get caught, and cycle the puck. That not just wins in the regular season but really wins in the playoffs too.
It feels good, to come back here is an awesome feeling.
Still, forechecks gotta be better, we've gotta get on top of their D, and our D-Zone coverage has got to be better.
For a little more reaction, we'll check out our Capitals blog Japers' Rink.
There were certainly some good aspects of tonight's game, to be sure, and it was head and shoulders above whatever Saturday night was (...yes, admittedly that's a pretty low bar). One gets the sense that a coach like Dale Hunter isn't going to settle for simply "better than last game" - as well he shouldn't - but it will take time for him to instill his own philosophy and systems on this team, and as evidenced by tonight's performance he hasn't quite had a chance to do that yet.