Capitals HC throws Evgeny Kuznetsov under the bus over winger's OT play leading to loss

Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery gave his opinion on Evgeny Kuznetsov's error in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers at the Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

After both teams failed to break the deadlock at the end of the third period, Sam Reinhart scored the winner for the Panthers 15 seconds into overtime. Reinhart received a cross-ice pass from Aleksander Barkov.

As he skated toward the Capitals' net, Evgeny Kuznetsov chased him down the ice and lost the footrace, enabling Reinhart to bury the puck into the back of the net for the winner.

Without Kuznetsov's error, the Caps could have left their home arena with all two points instead of just one. Carbery admitted after the game that it was his player's fault that led to Reinhart's OT goal:

“Kuzy out of position,” he said immediately. “He chased down ice and lost the footrace. If you're gonna chase down ice, you just can't get beat. He got beat." - via The Hockey News

However, Kuznetsov was not the sole focus of the defeat, as Carbery admitted that several mind-boggling errors and poor decisions cost the Caps the game:

“We made some egregious mistakes with the puck that, against a team like them, you just can’t make. We just made some really mind-boggling plays with the puck, decisions with the puck, positional stuff in the second and third periods.”

The Washington Capitals (5-4-2) are fifth in the Metro Division of the East with 12 points. They return to action on Friday, Nov. 10, when they travel to Prudential Center to face the New Jersey Devils (7-4-1). The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET.

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Evgeny Kuznetsov's career stats

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Washington Capitals

Evgeny Kuznetsov is one of the best offensive players in the league. He was drafted No. 26 overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2010 draft and has been with them since then. The 2023-24 season is the 11th for the 31-year-old in the NHL.

This season, Kuznetsov has notched up five points, through one goal and four assists in 11 games. Kuznetsov has played 690 games overall, recording 556 points (166 goals and 390 assists). He had a career-high 83 points in the 2017-18 season.