Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery blasts team's performance after loss to Maple Leafs

Spencer Carbery let it all out on the podium.

The second-year Washington Capitals head coach laid into his team's effort after the home side blew a 3-1, third-period lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

In a bizarre game that saw three goals disallowed after review, the Capitals were in the driver's seat for what would have been their 11th win of the season. But Toronto would score two goals in the final five minutes of regulation before John Tavares ended it in OT, capping a 4-3 Leafs win.

"The second half of that game, not good at all. Embarrassing for that matter," Carbery, a former Leafs assistant, said about his team's performance. "That's unrecognizable from our team. Playing a team on a back-to-back, third period the way that that looked [losing] the two-goal lead, embarrassing on home ice."

In his first season behind the bench, the Carbery-led Capitals snuck into the playoffs despite a minus-37 goal differential, the worst goal differential for a qualified post-season team since 1991. Washington made a flurry of off-season acquisitions in the hopes of being a true contender.

However, the way the Capitals closed is not what you would expect from a team that had gotten out to a blazing 10-4-1 start heading into Wednesday's tilt.

"You can't even break the game down from a structure (standpoint)," Carbery said. "For us to have a lead like that and play the way that we did and the lack of ... just go down the list. From compete, all of that stuff, then you look at some of the structure mistakes and the puck touches.

"Just checks every single box."

When asked what needs to happen to turn this around, Carbery was very blunt.

"People are saying the right things, then you have to actually go do the right things," he said. "That's where the connection was lost. There was a lot of the right things being said, less action."