Saturday was a hard one to take.
Tuesday wasn't any better. In fact, it was probably worse.
The Blue Jackets were cruising toward at least a point before Nicklas Backstrom broke their hearts with 42.9 seconds left in regulation. We've got post-game reaction from John Tortorella and Brandon Dubinsky following the game:
JOHN TORTORELLA
On his team's performance: "We played a good hockey game. The last two, we've put in a lot of good minutes. We've just got to keep our composure here; as I've always said to you guys, I'm going to coach the team based on how we've played. Sometimes, it's not always about the result. We've just have to keep composure and keep on finding our game, because our game is coming."
On the team's approach before the 2-2 goal: "We talked about keeping our patience. Talked about playing the same way and we get rewarded. It's a kick in the stomach. That one hurts. Forget the coaches, how about the guys with uniforms on? That's a tough one for them."
On the Capitals' late winning goal: "It's a blind throw at the net by Ovechkin. Washington does it a lot – they throw a lot of blind plays through seams on to the net. There's a couple of players on the weak side who gravitate to the puck; I'm not sure anybody could have done anything about it. It's just a screwed up play. It froze everybody. Oshie makes a hell of a play there...finding the puck and having the wherewithal to make a pass."
On if he feels like the dam is about to break: "I think we're close. That's where our power play has to help us...one almost snuck through (Holtby). It's been that way for us most of the year here where things haven't totally one our way during games. I'm encouraged with the way we've played the past couple of nights, but we've played well enough to lose. We have to find a way to turn that."
BRANDON DUBINSKY
On balancing their good play with a poor result: "We can get frustrated but that's not going to do any good. We have to continue to work and continue to get better as a group. Throughout the year, it's a grind. It's a long season. Nobody said it was going to be easy for us; it's hard right now not getting the results...but we've got to come to work tomorrow with our heads up, and ready and willing to get better."
On Washington's winning goal: "That's what they do. We have to focus on ourselves, shore up some of those mistakes and continue to elevate our game."
On another meeting with the Capitals on Friday: "We've got a lot of division games, these guys are a division opponent. We'll have some good work days and our guys will be ready."
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