'We Didn't Play At All': Ovechkin & Carbery Don't Hold Back, Rip Capitals Effort After 'Very, Very Immature' Loss To Oilers

The Capitals were brutally honest following a 5-0 loss to the Oilers on Black Friday.

WASHINGTON — For captain Alex Ovechkin, it was as if he and the Washington Capitals were merely spectators, not players, on Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.

"We didn't play at all," he said bluntly, refusing to mince words after a disastrous 5-0 result.

From the start, the Oilers tilted the ice, with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and more pushing hard and piling on the pressure. Washington let them have the puck early and often, and in turn, the team went down 2-0 after some questionable bounces and calls in the first. The team was also outshot 21-6 after 20 minutes.

Then, in the second, the Capitals' penalty kill, which had been 25-for-26 in the month of November and among the best in the league, collapsed, surrendering three consecutive power-play goals — with two of them going to Draisaitl. McDavid had four assists for Edmonton to add salt to the wound.

"It's difficult to play against a team of that caliber when they have the puck the entire night. Anytime we get it, it just doesn't connect; we just give it back," head coach Spencer Carbery said. "Obviously, you do the math, you give Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the puck all night, three of the best players on the planet, it's gonna be difficult. That's essentially what goes on."

Washington got five power-play opportunities of its own, but failed to convert on even one. The Capitals are now 0-for-28 on the man advantage over the last 10 games.

"It's unacceptable," John Carlson said bluntly.

"Well, we trying. We try working at practice, it's frustrating for us. But we move on and keep fighting and keep finding the pace," Ovechkin, who had scored a PPG that was waved off due to a misdraw, added.

To end the night, Washington was outshot 35-25. For D.C., there was no offense and no momentum, and the Capitals, who had won five straight games and held a high-spirited practice on Thanksgiving, had nothing to show against Edmonton.

It led to Carbery shaking up the lines over the course of the night, and then having a very strong message for his group postgame.

"It's frustrating. It's just really disappointing, really... You're gonna lose games in this league; you're not gonna have your best, but to play like that coming off of Thanksgiving before we go on the road, it's a very, very immature game," Carbery said. "Almost something you would expect from a young team that thinks they're already in California and halfway on the plane before that game even starts. And obviously, you do that against a team that's playing for their lives and feels like their season's on the line? Good luck, it's not even close, and that's what you just witnessed."

Here are the full post-game pressers from Ovechkin, Carlson and Tom Wilson and everything they had to say after the defeat, which ended a five-game winning streak.