In this edition of Locked on Capitals Dan talks about the player interviews from breakdown day. Oshie, Backstrom, Ovechkin, Mantha, Kuemper and Kuznetsov give their thoughts on when this team went off the rails.
Alex Ovechkin said he believes the season took a turn for the worse when John Carlson got hurt on Dec. 23. Although the No. 1 defenseman returned three months later, the damage had been done in the captain’s eyes.“The Carly injury was painful,” he said. “When your best D is out long term, it sucks. Everything is changed — power play, penalty kill. Because he plays the most minutes in the game, the system was kind of changing as well.”*Kuzy
Added Evgeny Kuznetsov: “That’s where the hockey goes now. It’s not about how fast you skate, it’s how fast you’re thinking, how fast you move the puck.” MacLellan called Kuznetsov’s season “disappointing.” The 30-year-old scored 12 goals a year after putting up 24 and finished a team-worst minus-26. “It wasn’t as good as last year,” he said. “I liked his season last year; he played well. For whatever reason, he never quite found his game. I mean, there were stretches where I thought he played well but, overall, he underperformed.”*Oshie T.J. Oshie, who was sidelined three times this season due to a wonky back, had a minor procedure on his back on Friday to alleviate the discomfort. The 36-year-old winger said he’s optimistic that he’ll now be able to have a normal summer of training for the first time in years. “Double ablation, it’s called,” Oshie said of the procedure. “I already feel light-years different than I did yesterday morning, so that’s good news for me moving forward.” Oshie spoke about how he feels about how he feels like the Caps let the Caps fans down. Especially in regards to how much tickets cost. Oshie had a back procedure yesterday. Said no surgeries this off season. Said he's looking forward to a season with no back pain.*Backstrom Nicklas Backstrom said he is hopeful that a full summer of training will help him regain the step he lost after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery last summer.
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