WASHINGTON -- Distraught and disgusted, Alex Ovechkin did his duties as the team captain by addressing the media in front of his locker stall in the home dressing room at Verizon Center late Friday night.
He'd have rather been just about anywhere else.
Ovechkin scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, but his team couldn't get another one. Montreal got goals within the first 7:01 of the game and held on tight for a 2-1 victory to avoid elimination and force a Game 6 back at Bell Centre on Monday night.
The Capitals won in Montreal twice this week to make Friday's Game 5 a potential clincher, but Ovechkin had no interest in discussing that or even thinking about playing in Montreal because he was still so mad about losing Game 5.
His answers were short, but we've got them for you anyway. Here is what No. 8 had to say:
Q: What did you think of your start tonight?
Ovechkin: The first period was brutal. They made circles, stopped in our zone and they scored the goals.
Q: Do you feel you guys were able to pick up your play later on?
Ovechkin: Well, we had chances, but their goalie played well, so …
Q: You've won two up there in Montreal, so you have to feel confident going back up there.
Ovechkin: We're going to play for a win. That's all we have to do.
Q: Were you satisfied with the quality of your (scoring) chances?
Ovechkin: How can you be satisfied if we lost the game?
Q: Did you think you were going to get that equalizer with the way things were going?
Ovechkin: We have chances, we just didn't score the goal. I think in the third period they just stayed in their zone, they stayed more safe, but we have to score on power play (0-for-5 Friday, 1-for-24 in the series). We have more chances. Sasha (Alexander Semin) has to score in the middle when he had the chance. Flash (Tomas Fleischmann), too. Our top guys have to score goals.
Q: In the beginning, were you guys too hyped for this one or did you just come out flat?
Ovechkin: Again, we want to win the game and we started badly right away. They got opportunity to score a goal in the first 10 seconds. That's not how we wanted to start the game.
Q: How much did their trap in the neutral zone affect you tonight in getting the puck into the zone?
Ovechkin: No, it's just a moment in a game. I think after they scored goals we felt pretty good, but we didn't score. We have to score.
Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl
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