from Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post,

For the first time this season, the doors to the Washington Capitals’ dressing room stayed shut for just a little longer after the game, the players inside asking for more time to talk through their issues following their fifth straight loss. A team meeting such as this one probably would have happened earlier any other year, but with the Capitals still basking in their franchise-first Stanley Cup win last season, maybe the depths of this losing streak didn’t feel so low until Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve been leaning back on the fact that, you know, what we went through last year or whatever,” goaltender Braden Holtby said. “It’s time to really move on. We realize if we want to do this again, it’s going to take more hard work than last year.”

With Sunday’s 8-5 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, who entered the game with the worst record in the NHL, Washington is on its first five-game skid in nearly five years.

conitnued

Game highlights below.