by A.J. Perez
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With nothing left to prove in the regular season, the Washington Capitals have talked plenty in recent weeks about creating a businesslike environment where players will be held responsible for misdeeds.Saturday night's 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers -- who rode Daniel Briere's shootout tally to victory -- at Verizon Center could challenge that resolve. The Caps took four penalties while on the Flyers' end of the ice, an excusable total even if Philly only capitalized on one of those chances.
"Those are lazy penalties," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "The (Alexander) Semin trip was a lazy penalty. We don't like as a team to take an offensive zone penalty. I don't think that's in our gameplan."
Semin, the Caps' talented Russian forward in the final year of his contract, took three of the Caps' nine penalties. The Flyers, who lead the Atlantic Division and are now two points behind the Caps in the Eastern Conference standings, converted on only one power play, while the Capitals scored three on their man-advantage situations in seven opportunities.
But in a game that came as close to playoff environment as you're going to get a quarter way through the season, giving the opposition so many chances -- including a two-man advantage -- is hardly ideal.
"A couple of them you could see the replay on them and it's not a penalty," said Caps forward Jason Chimera, whose goal midway through the third period knotted the game at 3-3. "Obviously, you can't take those penalties -- especially in overtime."
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