Laich says Capitals have “no reason” to hang their heads

Losing a triple overtime game must be a serious punch in the gut. At the same time, it’s tough to blame Washington Capitals center Brooks Laich for sticking up for his team despite their heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers, as he told Stephen Whyno.

“Laich said this was a great game, no reason for Caps to hang their heads.”

The rugged Capitals forward points out that the Capitals laid it on the line – literally and figuratively.

“You look around the ice and probably half the players on the ice have blood on their jerseys by the end of it,” Laich said.

Fellow hard-working forward Joel Ward echoed Laich’s thoughts.

“Any game is fun in the playoffs; it sucks [when] you lose. That’s just the nature of the beast,” Ward said. “I thought we played pretty [well]. We had some chances. It was just, they put the last one in.”

Ward’s final sentence might seem kind of obvious and simple, but it really didn’t capture the feel of the outcome (and perhaps the outcome of most marathon OT games). It’s a huge blow to the team that loses such a contest, yet it’s tough to beat up on either side too much.

Especially since “half” of the players left the game bloodied to begin win.