WASHINGTON — After a season-opening loss to the Boston Bruins, there remains a clear elephant in the room when it comes to the Washington Capitals: what gives with the power play?

Washington managed 11 shots over the course of five opportunities — including an extended 5-on-3 — on Wednesday, but couldn't convert on any of them while also failing to challenge Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins' penalty kill.

"(We were) holding the stick too tight, but you know, I think it's first game for both teams," Ovechkin said, crediting the struggles to first-game jitters. "You can see there's lots of bounces, lots of miscommunications. It sucks, so we're going to move on."

The Capitals had tried a handful of different looks over the course of their chances, with Ovechkin opting out of playing the full two minutes on a couple of chances while Jakob Chychrun got a promotion to the first unit later in the game.

Washington's formation also changed, with Ovechkin moving closer to the crease rather than being camped out in his office while Aliaksei Protas and Ryan Leonard got to work on the second unit.

"I thought our unit had some really good looks, actually," Chychrun said. "I thought we were getting in on the entries pretty well, setting up and getting looks, getting shots, making plays. We've just got to find a way to put one in the net at the end of the day."

That's ultimately where the issue lies. From an execution standpoint, the Capitals looked disjointed. The shots that did make it through were easy pickings for Swayman, and the ones that didn't went wide as chances also fell apart due to missed passes, broken plays or fumbles.

"The process, it was just okay," coach Spencer Carbery said. "I think the way that I saw it, I saw a lot of guys fighting the puck tonight. just sloppy, on backhands, pucks rolling, bobbling, passes off. So those are the moments right there... those are the plays that we've got to be able to make, especially when you need your power play to be the difference."

All of that being said, what's the fix?

Washington hasn't been a stranger to power play woes, with trouble at 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 dating back to last season. While it's only been one game, something's got to give at some point.

While it's too soon for new looks, the team will go over footage and try to see where things went wrong, and go from there. At the end of the day, though, the Capitals are taking accountability.

"We've just got to be better," Tom Wilson said. "I think the five, 10-man group, we're out there for a reason. We have to have a positive impact on the game at the end of the day. It's as simple as that. So, not good enough.

"Now, we have some film to look at, and we'll coach it up and hopefully, turn it around quick and get some momentum."