The Washington Capitals (9-8-2) and Alex Ovechkin took advantage of some early defensive coverage lapses from the Los Angeles Kings (10-6-4) as head coach Jim Hiller's team suffered the first loss of this road trip early this week on Monday evening (Nov. 17). Hiller and the Kings struggled to get much of anything going offensively until they were down by multiple goals on the scoreboard.
A sluggish start and offensive issues causes the Los Angeles Kings and Jim Hiller to fall to the Capitals on Monday
This 2-1 loss to the Capitals on Monday snapped the Kings' road winning streak at six games. It was also the first time that the Kings slipped up in the win column and in the standings in this six-game road trip in the Eastern Conference in the past week.
Hiller gave his takeaways to the media after the Kings' one-goal loss to the Capitals in the nation's capital yesterday.
The Kings and Hiller now must move on and get ready to face an in-state division foe in the Pacific Division in the middle of this week to round out the six-game road trip vs. San Jose.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' 2-1 loss to the Capitals on the road at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. on Nov. 17.
Jim Hiller
On his reaction to the loss to the Capitals
"The first period was the difference in the game, that was clear. We had lots of energy in the second and third, so there’s no reason why we didn’t start with the same energy. We made some mistakes, and I guess we got what we deserved."
On the defensive lapses in their own zone that caused the two Washington goals
"You leave, one guy wide open in front of our net, then you leave number eight wide open in front of our net, it’s just not going to end very well. There’s just two mistakes, big mistakes, and they buried them."
On how Darcy Kuemper performed in net for the Kings vs. Washington
"I didn’t think they had a lot of shots in the last 40 minutes, but what they had was high quality, and he made some really good saves. He gave us a chance. I thought their goalie made some big saves at the end too. Just not enough finish for us."
On the play of Jacob Moverare in his first full game with the Kings this regular season vs. Washington
"I thought he was good. He reminded me exactly how he played last year. He was actually evasive a little bit on the breakout, solid defensively, blocked some shots. He just did what he typically does, so that was a really good performance for him."
On why the Kings came out sluggish vs. Washington yesterday
"We wanted to win the game tonight. I’m disappointed. We play, we’ve got to win. That should be the mindset and I didn’t like how we started. We finished fine, the puck didn’t go in for us, but we just dug too big of a hole."