Spencer Carbery calls out his players after tough loss to Toronto Maple Leafs

PUBLICATION

Graham Montgomery
November 14, 2024 (9:41 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery laid into his team this morning after they gave up a 3-1 lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, dropping the game 4-3 in overtime.

Carbery did not hold back today. He admitted that he wasn't confident in how he felt about the team's performance last night immediately after the game, but he did say that it was an embarrassing game in his post-game remarks.

«The way that that game played out, just embarrassing. Flat out - that's unrecognizable from our team.»

Today, Carbery went much further in his comments about the game. Now that he had a full night's rest to think about it as well as time to go over the video, he is doubling down on his take from last night. He made it clear that things were actually even worse than he initially thought.

"Yeah, [it was] honestly worse than originally thought at the time. Sometimes you're hesitant to make bold statements after games because sometimes you're in the heat of the moment, but I felt pretty confident last night that it was going to look the way it looked when I watched it from the bench, and it was not good on film as well."

That being said, the game was not without controversy. At one point, Capitals defenseman John Carlson thought he had scored to make it a 3-1 lead, but it was later called back upon review as Capitals forward Nic Dowd made the slightest contact possible with Joseph Woll inside the crease.

Understandably, fans were furious about this call. Goalie interference calls have become a huge problem for the league as they are wildly inconsistent. For example, one fan pointed out a Panthers goal from a few days ago that counted, even though Matthew Tkachuk was all over the crease, shoving the goalie, and even taking his stick.

Unfortunately, there is no amount of complaining from the Capitals or otherwise that can get that goal back. In the end, this call very well may have cost them the game, but at the end of the day, it is on the players to keep the puck out of their own net. As Carbery explained, their performance last night simply was not good enough.