from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

In the Caps' locker room, the players were suitably chastened, as you would expect from a team that is now 2-8-1.

Troy Brouwer suggested the team wasn't mentally prepared to play.

"I agree," offered captain Alex Ovechkin.

"Yeah, no emotions. Nothing."

Before Thursday's game, rookie head coach Adam Oates talked with enthusiasm about the direction he felt his team was headed. In spite of the losses, he felt they were not being dominated, that they were a few key saves and some bounces from being a better team, certainly a team with more points.

Keeping the faith will be harder after Thursday's offering.

"Tonight was just not a good enough hockey game," defenseman Karl Alzner said.

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