Two days removed from the worst collapse in franchise history, Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee said coach Bruce Boudreau's job is safe.
Capitals GM Says Coach’s Job Is Safe
“I can’t allow five or six days where things didn’t go well for us to skew what we think about this team, organization or staff,” McPhee told reporters at the Capitals’ training facility on Friday. “We have good coaches and they are going to be here for a long time. That equation is not part of the issue.”
Speculation about Boudreau's job arose after the President Trophy-winning Capitals collapsed in the first-round of the playoffs against the eighth-seeded Canadiens. The Caps lost Game 7 at home, 2-1 on Wednesday night. They were up 3-1 in the series.
While McPhee gave Boudreau a vote of confidence, SB Nation’s Caps blog, Japers’ Rink, says there were too many similarities between this season’s collapse and last year and believes that Boudreau should be held accountable for the players he put on the ice:
This year's Capitals were taken to seven games in their opening series by an unquestionably less-talented team, just like last year's team. Bruce Boudreau kept giving significant ice time to favored, yet ineffective forwards, just he did last year. The penalty kill looked tentative and inept, just as it did last year; just as it did all season long. The Capitals failed to come out strong in their first game of the postseason, just as they did against New York last year, and failed to show the "killer instinct" needed to finish off an opponent they'd taken a significant series lead over, just as they did against Pittsburgh last spring. The team failed to initially adapt - to even make any effort to initially adapt - to their opponents defensive style of play, just as they did last year against New York. Mike Green looked worn out, just like he did last year, and after playing more than 25 minutes in six of his last ten regular season games (and going over 24 in the other two). Alex Ovechkin said he didn't "feel that power" in Game One, after getting big minutes and long shifts in unimportant games, just like last year.
For more on the story, be sure to follow the gang over at Japers’ Rink.
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